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OFFICERS OF THE RED CROSS SOCIETY, 


THE 


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Red Cross Society 


OF MINNESOTA. 


ORGANIZED MAY 11, 1898. 


COMPILED FROM HER REPORTS AND EXPERIENCES 


BY 


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BESSIE PARK HAINES, M. D. 

SECRETARY OF THE STATE SOCIETY, 




ASSISTED BY 


EMMA ROGERS GILMAN AND KATHARINE E. MILLER. 


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MINNEAPOLIS : 

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1900 , 


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THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two CoH£a Received 

SEP. 26 1901 

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ITtembcrs of tl^c Heb Cross Society of Xltinnesota 

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PREFACE. 


The work of the Eed Cross is so little understood by 
those not directly concerned with the organization, we 
will briefly outline its origin and purpose. 

During the year 1812, when the Prussians fought to 
free their country from French dominion, the Order of 
Johannites was formed by a company of Prussian noble- 
men. These men followed the army, giving care to the 
wounded and protecting women and children from the 
soldiers of the invasion. After peace was declared 
they continued their noble work by building hospitals 
and providing for the needy. 

At last all Europe recognized the vast amount of suf- 
fering that might be alleviated and the number of lives 
that could be saved through adopting a common plan by 
which every nation would recognize and protect those 
who care for the fallen upon the battlefield. One result 
of the great hearted work for humanity, begun by a few 
noble men, was the convention in Geneva in 1863. 

Sixteen great powers were represented in that memo- 
rable gathering, and it was agreed that those who care 
for the wounded and dead upon the battlefield should 
be declared neutral. The sign of neutrality was to be 
the flag of Switzerland, with colors reversed, the red 
cross upon a white ground. Immediately after the con- 
vention, Red Cross societies were founded in several 
countries, but it was not until the meeting of the Red 
Cross Society in Berlin in 1869 that the international 
organization was completed. 

The United States was the last country to ofiicially 
extend its protection to the bearers of the Red Cross 
symbol and to establish a national society. This was 
accomplished through the efforts of Miss Clara Barton. 

Our civil war did not float the banner of the Red 


4 


PREFACE. 


Cross, but Miss Clara Barton, then clerk in the patent 
ojB&ce, ^as appointed by General Butler ^^Lady in 
Charge’^ of the hospitals at the front. It would require 
many pages to tell of the great work that self-sacrificing 
woman did for the wounded, sick and dying. 

In 1870 she went to Europe, and during the Franco- 
Prussian war, assisted the Grand Duchess of Baden in 
establishing military hospitals, rendering the Bed Cross 
society much valuable aid. In 1872 she had charge of 
the public distribution of supplies among the destitute 
in Paris. 

At the close of the war Miss Barton was decorated 
with the Golden Cross of Baden and the Iron Cross of 
Germany. After her return home she put forth every 
effort to organize a Bed Cross Society in the United 
States. The success of her efforts is well known, and 
in 1881 the government signed the International Treaty. 

In 1884 an amendment was added to the articles of 
incorporation to the effect that the Bed Cross Society 
should administer necessarv relief to all sufferers from 

o 

floods, famines, epidemics, conflagrations and other 
calamities. This is called the American Amendment. 

The history of Miss Barton’s work for the Armenians 
is generally familiar, but not until 1898 was the society 
called upon the battlefleld for the relief of our own 
wounded, sick and dying. 

Hot alone 'from fields of battle did the soldier boys 
call for help. The history of what the brave lads suf- 
fered in the different camps is too painful to review, but 
it was the knowledge of their suffering that elicited the 
noble efforts for their relief made by the men and 
women of Minnesota. 

It is the purpose of this volume to let the world know 
the great work done for humanity by the Minnesota Bed 
Cross Society since its organization. May 11, 1898, to 
the present time. May, 1900. 


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OUR NURSES AT MINNESOTA MONUMENT AT CHICKAMAUGA 



ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION. 


We, the undersigned persons, do hereby associate our- 
selves for the purpose of forming a corporation under 
and by virtue of the provisions of Title Three (3), 
Chapter Thirty-four (34), of the General Statutes of 
Minnesota for the year 1894, and to that end do hereby 
adopt the following articles of incorporation : 

AKTICLE I. 

The name of said corporation shall be ^^The Red 
Cross Society of Minnesota/^ Its general purpose and 
plan of corporation shall be to relieve and mitigate the 
misery, suffering and distress of war disaster or calam- 
ity; by succoring the sick, wounded and dying of all 
combatants or sufferers, regardless of race, creed or na- 
tionality; by extending to them spiritual and material 
aid and comfort, providing them with medical service 
and attendance, food, shelter, clothing and proper nurs- 
ing ; by the dissemination of good literature, and other- 
wise; by co-operating in all works directed to the care, 
relief and assistance of the disabled and needy and their 
dependents ; and, to effectuate such purposes, said 
corporation shall have power to acquire, own, mortgage, 
alienate, lease, furnish, manage and maintain buildings, 
halls, apartments and other structures and property, 
real, personal and mixed. 


6 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


The place of location of said corporation shall be in 
the City of Minneapolis, in the County of Hennepin 
and State of Minnesota, so far as practicable and consis- 
tent with its purposes. 

AKTICLE II. 

Any person of good moral character shall be eligible 
to membership upon payment of the annual dues herein 
provided. 

Each member shall contribute to said corporation, as 
dues, the sum of One (1) Dollar per annum. 

AKTICLE III. 

The officers of said corporation shall be president, one 
first vice-president, one second vice-president, one third 
vice-president, a recording secretary, a corresponding 
secretary and a treasurer. 

They shall hold office for the term of one year, or until 
their respective successors shall be elected and shall have 
qualified. Said officers shall be elected by the board of 
trustees of said corporation, which board shall consist 
of eleven (11) members who shall be elected at the an- 
nual meeting by a majority of the members of said cor- 
poration present and voting, as follows : That is to say, 

at the first annual meeting there shall be elected three 
to serve for one year, four to serve for two years and 
four to serve for three years, and at each annual meet- 
ing thereafter trustees shall be elected to serve for three 
years, and they shall have general power, authority and 


OF MINNESOTA. 


control of all affairs and transactions of said corpora- 
tion, and shall hold office until their successors are 
elected and have qualified. The trustees shall also have 
power to establish by-laws for the corporation. 

AKTICLE IV. 

The corporation shall hold annual meetings on the 
last Wednesday of May for the election of trustees and 
other business transactions, and special meetings at such 
other times and places as shall be determined upon by 
the vote of a majority of the board of trustees. 

The President shall call an emergency meeting when- 
ever, in his opinion, such a meeting is necessary, or on 
the written request of five members of the corporation. 
The officers of said corporation shall perform such duties 
as may be prescribed by the by-laws. 

AKTICLE V. 

The following named persons shall constitute the 
board of trustees and officers of said corporation during 
the first year of its existence, to-wit : J. W. Macdonald, 

M. D., Mrs. E. A. Russell, Bessie Park Haines, M. D., 
and James 0. Pierce to serve for three years; H. H. 
Stone, Mrs. Page Morris, E. W. Peet, Ozro B. Gould to 
serve for two years ; Mrs. Helen Aling, Mrs. S. B. Foote, 
and William M. Regan to serve for one year as trustees ; 
and the officers for the first year shall be J. W. Mac- 
donald, President; Mrs. E. A. Russell, First Vice-Pres- 
ident; Dr. Bessie Park Haines, Secretary; James O. 
Pierce, Treasurer. 


8 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


In testimony whereof we have hereto set onr hands 
and seals this third (3d) day of June, A. D. 1898. 

Executed in the presence of : H. H. Stone, J ames 

O. Eierce. 

JOHN W. MACDONALD, M. D. 

President. 

MKS. E. AUGUSTA RUSSELL, 

V ice-President. 
BESSIE PARK HAINES, M. D., 

Secretary. 


State of Minnesota, County of Hennepin, ss: Per- 

sonally appeared on the third (3) day of June, 1898, be- 
fore the undersigned, a Notary Public in and for said 

county. Dr. J. W. Macdonald, Mrs. E. Augusta Russell 
and Dr. Bessie Park Haines, to me personally known to 
be the persons named in, and who executed the foregoing 
instrument, and acknowledged that they executed the 
same as their free act and deed. 

JAMES O. PIERCE, 

Notary Public. 

Hennepin County, Minnesota. 


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HOSPITAL COMMISSION AT CHICKAMAUGA, 1898. 





The Red Cross Society 


OF MINNESOTA. 


OEGANIZATIOK 

On the morning of February 16, 1898, a cloud 
seemed to have settled over the City of Washington. 
Men and women looked in one another’s faces, pale, 
speechless. IsTot once during that terrible day did the 
sun shine upon the horror-stricken people of Washing- 
ton. From the capital city of this great nation the 
gloom spread, until in the face of every true citizen from 
sea to sea was read the story of the fearful calamity 
that had fallen upon the land. 

Two hundred and fifty-nine of the brave protectors of 
the country lay at the bottom of Havana hay, forced to 
an untimely death. The heart of every American, 
filled with the righteous indignation that is not sin, 
demanded justice. The great suffering of the Cubans 
became a personal matter through the sorrows of newly 
stricken hearts. 

Cuba had pleaded long for the protection of the 
United States, but in vain, until she spoke through the 
spirits of dead heroes. The pros and cons of the war 


10 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


with Spain are not to be discussed here ; except for that 
war the Red Cross Society of Minnesota might not have 
been organized. 

The needs of those who responded to the call for vol- 
unteers appealed alike to men and women, and there was 
quick response to the demand for sympathy. 

A week before the Twelfth and Fourteenth regiments 
of Minnesota Infantry Volunteers left for Chickamauga, 
and the Thirteenth for Manila, a mass meeting was 
called in the lecture room of the Church of the Re- 
deemer, Minneapolis, for the purpose of organizing a 
Red Cross society. Mrs. Mary H. Pennell had been the 
first to recognize the necessity for such an organization, 
and as a result of her efforts the first meeting was held 
May 8, 1898. 

Dr. J. W. Macdonald presided. After instrumental 
music by the Misses Phelps, Rev. F. T. Webb gave an 
address on the Red Cross in the home ; F. W. Bergmeier, 
secretary for the German Red Cross Society in St. Paul, 
outlined the origin and history of the Red Cross so- 
cieties of the world. Mrs. E. A. Russell gave a brief 
review of her experience while working with the Sani- 
tary Commission during the civil war. 

Dr. Macdonald then stated the object of the meeting, 
and after an interested discussion it was decided to or- 
ganize. A committee was appointed to draw up articles 
of incorporation, and the meeting adjourned until May 
11, with thirty-four of those present signifying their 
desire to become members of the society. 


OF MINNESOTA. 


11 


The meeting of Maj 11 was held in the hall of Man- 
ning College. The prepared articles of incorporation 
were read and adopted with a few revisions. Fifteen 
new names were added to the membership list. The 
chapel of Plymouth church having been offered for the 
use of the society, future meetings were appointed there. 

The third meeting of the newly organized Red Cross 
Society was held in Plymouth chapel May 15, when the 
following officers were elected: President, Dr. J*. W. 

Macdonald; vice-president; Mrs. E. Augusta Russell; 
secretary. Dr. Bessie Park Haines ; treasurer. Judge 
James O. Pierce. Mrs. Mary Stebbins was appointed 
chairman of the nurses’ committee, and Mr. Luth 
Jaeger chairman of the finance committee. Mr. and 
Mrs. H. H. Stone were at this time and through the his- 
tory of the society actively interested in the work of the 
Red Cross. 

After addresses by various speakers, Sergeant E. G. 
Gran, of the hospital corps at Camp Ramsey, detailed 
the needs of the hospital. He stated that the Thirteenth 
regiment was well supplied with necessaries, but that 
the Twelfth and Fourteenth had no hospital equipment. 
The society decided to open a work room immediately 
and prepare needed articles for the two regiments. Mrs. 
Stebbins was placed in charge of the workroom, and a 
call was issued for volunteers to plan and execute the 
work. After the meeting Dr. Bessie Park Haines and 
Mrs. Mary Pennell made a trip to Camp Ramsey to as- 
certain what supplies were most needed. Their report 
was an incentive to the sewing room workers. 


12 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


They told the soldier hoys what had been and was 
being done for them, and many homesick lads found 
cheer in the thought that the people were solicitous for 
each one. Even after all that had been said and writ- 
ten, few appreciated the irksome life necessarily led by 
the volunteers while waiting for ^^marching orders.’^ 
It is not possible for any government to be fully pre- 
pared when a sudden call to arms is issued. 

Among the troops some were obliged to wear old, ill- 
fitting suits, while the proper clothing was being manu- 
factured, and it requires more courage for a young man 
to drill before his friends in a suit, old, soiled and two 
sizes too large or small, than to face shot and shell. 
Add the element of homesickness and there is no occa- 
sion for wonder that the boys became prey to the dis- 
eases common to an army camp. It is a fact, though 
little known, that under these conditions there were boys 
who committed suicide. Indeed, the battlefield is not 
the hardest place for the soldier. 

Such facts impress the necessity of sending Eed Cross 
nurses with every regiment ordered in camp. Heedless 
to say these nurses should be strong, capable women, who 
will understand the wants and prevent many disasters. 

On the morning of May 16 th, many willing hands 
were ready to aid in furnishing the Twelfth and Four- 
teenth regiments with hospital supplies. Committees 
were appointed to solicit materials. The merchants 
gave liberal response and the women labored with such 
will that the following articles were ready at noon the 
same day to forward with the regiment, which left at 


V 


OF MINNESOTA. 13 

twelve o’clock, the Twelfth and Fourteenth going to 
Chickamauga, the Thirteenth to Manila : 

TWELFTH EEGIMEHT BOX. 

16 cotton night shirts. 

3 woolen night shirts. 

1 flannel night robe. 

1 many tailed flannel band. 

1 lot of antiseptic pads. 

1 pneumonia jacket. 

1 

3 rolls old sheets. 

1 linen sheet. 

Old linen towels. 

1 box of bandages. 

THIRTEEXTH EEGIMEXT BOX. 

1 pair night slippers. 

1 flannel night robe. 

6 flannel night shirts. 

Eolls of old linen and muslin. 

2 pneumonia jackets. 

1 lot of antiseptic pads. 

1 linen sheet. 

1 box bandages. 

FOUETEEXTH EEGIMEXT BOX. 

16 cotton night shirts. 

3 flannel night shirts. 

1 pneumonia jacket. 


14 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


1 lot antiseptic pads. 

Old sheets. 

2 linen sheets. 

1 many tailed hand. 

1 large roll of old linen. 

1 roll of flannel. 

1 box of bandages. 

1 roll antiseptic cotton. 

Roll of old muslin. 

• It is almost incredible of belief that such could have 
been accomplished in three hours, but no call has ever 
proven so great that the women of the land were not 
able to meet it at the proper time. A woman may not 
vot^ but she can work, and it will not require an over- 
strong imagination to appreciate what this work of kind 
hearts and willing hands meant to the soldier boys. 

The flrst efforts of the Red Cross of Minnesota sup- 
plied a demand that would not otherwise have been met, 
and spared much suffering in camp. The headquarters 
of the officers of the society were established at 508 and 
512 Masonic Temple. After the first call was issued 
by letter and through the press, the membership in- 
creased rapidly and many dollars were contributed to 
the cause. 

ENTHUSIASM AWAKENED. 

On the evening of May 19th a mass meeting was held 
in Hennepin Avenue Methodist Episcopal church. Dr. 
J. W. Macdonald presiding. He recited a brief his- 


OF MINNESOTA. 


15 


tory of the Eed Cross Society, which by this time had 
attracted general notice for its activity, and articles 
made by the women in the workroom were exhibited. 
As comparatively few persons knew what were neces- 
sities in a military hospital, the display created great in- 
terest. A native of Japan was present and cited many 
interesting facts in regard to the work of the Ked Cross 
in Japan and China, also in Corea, during the late war 
between China and Japan. Kabbi Aaron Friedman 
presented the Eed Cross movement from the Jewish 
standpoint, and his remarks were ample proof of the 
patriotism of his people. 

Mrs. Kate Buffington Davis and Eev. Matt Hughes, 
pastor of Wesley Methodist church, made stirring ap- 
peals in behalf of the movement. Mrs. Mary Stebbins 
offered a report of the work accomplished during the 
week, and stated that the membership had grown to 300 
within ten days. 

The next day. May 20th, the trustees met in the Bus- 
sell Coffee House parlors and plans were outlined for 
increasing the usefulness of the society. The spirit of 
helpfulness aroused among the people became manifest, 
and the offer of Messrs. A. E. Zonne and H. A. Stuart 
to divide the proceeds of a war song concert was accepted. 
The Eed Cross Society was enriched $185.75 by the en- 
tertainment. From this time forward through the sum- 
mer entertainments in aid of the Eed Cross work were 
of frequent occurrence, and every effort was gratefully 
acknowledged. A series of meetings in different parts 


16 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


of the city were also held, whereby the interest was 
largely increased. 

In the afternoon of Mav 22 a mass meeting was held 
in Trinity Methodist Church, Rev. J. B. Hingeley pre- 
siding. Addresses were made by Dr. Macdonald, Wil- 
iam A. Gulick and a comrade of the Civil War. Meni- 
bership blanks were distributed and more than thirty 
names were added to the society. 

In the evening a mass meeting was held in Pljunouth 
Congregational Church. The attendance was large and 
many new members were received. Rev. D. N. Beach, 
pastor of the church, was chairman, and he and others 
made addresses. ' 

May 24th and 25th the board of trustees discussed 
further plans of work. The evening of May 25th an- 
other mass meeting was called in Plymouth chapel, 
and during this session it was decided to change the 
name of the organization from the Red Cross Society 
of Minneapolis to the Red Cross Society of Minnesota. 
This awakened new interest at once and the wisdom of 
the move became apparent. As a result of the mass 
meetings held throughout the city, branch societies were 
organized to co-operate with the state society. 

The interest spread through the state and Northwest, 
and the aims and purposes of the society having be- 
come so well known, every mail brought inquiries from 
outsiders, asking what was needed and how and where 
to send supplies. Boxes and barrels containing jellies, 
canned fruits, cereals and other luxuries arrived by ex- 
press and freight. The home contributions were gen- 


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WISCONSIN MONUMENT AT CHICKAMAUGA PARK 


OF MINNESOTA. 


17 


erous, and it seemed as if the people had united in the 
spirit of helpfulness^ As soon as possible all these gifts 
were forwarded to the camps. 

It may be well to state here for the guidance of others 
who may undertake a similar work, that home-made 
jellies do not bear long-distance transportation, and the 
workers received word not to send them as they soon 
fermented! 

Every day the hum of voices and noise of busy ma- 
chines were heard in the workroom in Plymouth chapel. 
ISTot an hour passed that did not find numerous necessary 
articles ready to send to the boys at the front. 

A letter was received from the secretary of the Colo- 
nial Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, 
stating that the Daughters desired to co-operate with 
the Red Cross in work for the relief of the soldiers. 
The offer of aid was gladly accepted and contributions 
of money and garments, which members of the chapter 
met together to make,- were of great assistance. The 
Ladies’ Hebrew Benevolent Society also gave valuable 
aid. The Plymouth, Palestine and Little Falls chap- 
ters of the Order of Eastern Star added many needful 
contributions. Mrs. Flora Adams Pattee, worthy grand 
matron of the Eastern Star, recommended co-operation 
by the chapters throughout the state. The Woman’s 
Relief Corps also rendered appreciable aid. 

The trueheartedness of the people of Minnesota was 
demonstrated in a convincing: manner. For the second 
time in her history, the state was called upon to prove 
her loyalty to the country. Her sons responded to the 


18 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


call with willing hearts and hands. Her daughters, not 
less loyal, rendered service at hoone that saved many a 
soldier from sickness and death. 

The great quantity of books and papers sent to the 
Eed Cross for distribution were taken in charge by the 
Woman’s Council. This serivce was of inestimable 
value to the society, for the trustees were working day 
and night and appreciated any lightening of their re- 
sponsibility. Tremendous effort was required to keep 
all lines of work in order. 

The board of trustees had a meeting Hay 31 and voted 
to send $25 to Dr. T. C. Clark, surgeon for the Twelfth 
Minnesota Infantry and Dr. A. B. Cole, surgeon of the 
Fourteenth Minnesota Infantry, for use of the sick in 
camp. Another meeting was held June 2, and it was de- 
cided to place contribution boxes in different parts of 
the city. These boxes proved to be an effective source 
of income, as continuous donations kept them well 
supplied. 

At this time it was necessary for the officers and va- 
rious committees to meet nearly every day in order to 
keep the work well in hand. A new avenue of assist- 
ance opened before them. They made a public an- 
nouncement that the society would give aid to those de- 
pendent upon the soldiers, since the purpose of the Bed 
Cross is to give help to needy humanity everywhere. 
The needs of the Cubans were also considered, and $20 
worth of material was purchased and made up in cloth- 
ing to be sent to Cuba. 

A great question now confronted the society: How 

to get the nurses of the Bed Cross to the front. As 



SOLDIERS AT CAMP RAMSEY 



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OF MINNESOTA. 


19 


early as June 7 , Henry A. Castle, auditor for the Post- 
office department, said that from his ohservation in Chi- 
cago and Washington, he was convinced the need for 
Red Cross work was very great. 

As Judge J. O. Pierce was going east, he was author- 
ized to ascertain the plans of the National Red Cross 
and learn if the Minnesota society might co-operate and 
he given permission to send Red Cross nurses to the 
camps. Judge Pierce was not successful in securing 
any information, as the movements of the National Red 
Cross were not known in Washington. 

Meanwhile the work was being carried on with great 
zeal. June 12, a mass meeting was held in West- 
minster Presbyterian church. Rev. Pleasant Plunter 
presiding. Dr. Cyrus Northrop, Mr. Sol Smith Rus- 
sell, who had recently come home and was greatly in- 
terested in the cause, and others expressed their appre- 
ciation of the Red Cross. The meeting was largely at- 
tended. The church was handsomely decorated, ap- 
propriate music was rendered and the collections and 
membership fees amounted to $85.79. 

Every meeting increased interest in the Red Cross 
work. The press took up the cause with such zeal that 
not only Minnesota but the surrounding states re- 
sponded with money and supplies. Sympathizers were 
so numerous that the membership soon enrolled over 
one thousand names. Not since the civil war had the 
people been called upon to unite in a common cause. 
Every man who wore the blue was of interest to every 
man and woman in the Union. This unity of feeling 


20 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


swept like a blessing over the boys, on the field, in the 
camps, and cheered both the sick and discouraged. 

About this time Captain Frank T. Corriston returned 
from San Francisco to recruit more men for the Thir- 
teenth regiment. The recruits were outfitted with camp 
supplies by the lied Cross, and provided with lunches 
for the trip to San Francisco. 

Money and supplies continued to come from different 
organizations. The Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Order of 
Kailway Conductors gave efficient aid. The young 
women in the Portland Avenue First Presbyterian 
churcb organized the Clara Hill Circle of the Ked 
Cross, and by unwearying efforts netted many dollars 
for the w^ork. An ora:anization of Eed Cross Juniors 
in the Church of the Kedeemer worked with all the en- 
thusiasm of childhood, and their efforts were no less ap- 
preciated than those of their elders. 

In a business meeting held June 18 , a telesfram from 
Colonel C. McC. Peeve read that Dr. P. J. Fitzgerald, 
surgeon of the Thirteenth, required money for hospital 
supplies at Manila. The Red Cross voted to send him 
$ 200 . 

The board of managers continued to meet two or 
three times a week, as there was much pressing business 
before the society continuously. It may not be gen- 
^erally known that all services WTre gratuitous, no officer 
of the Red Cross of Minnesota receiving any compensa- 
tion. As loyal men and women they gave time and 
strength for the work, nor did they begrudge money. 
They could not pause to grow weary. The secretary, in 


OF MINNESOTA. 


21 


the great burden of work laid upon her, personally 
answered all letters, numbering many hundreds in the 
short time the society was actively at work. As must 
always be and is the case in the labors of a great organi- 
zation, the heaviest duties devolved upon a few. Many 
were willing, but it was not possible to divide the duties 
of a society where the demands were imperative. 

In the meeting of June 28 it was decided to have 
special Red Cross shipping tags placed on all supplies 
to insure safe delivery. The society also decided to 
send every congressman and senator from Minnesota 
a circular asking them to use their influence to se- 
cure ice for the military camps. A conunittee of 
three physicians, Urs. A. E. Higbee, U. D. Thomas and 
C. H. Hunter, were appointed to examine all applicants 
for positions as army nurses. The sum of $100 was 
voted to the Twelfth and Fourteenth regiments for hos- 
pital supplies. 

EFFORTS TO GET HURSES TO THE FRONT. 

Judge Pierce having returned from Washington, his 
report was heard, and as he had found it impossible to 
gain the desired information, it was decided other steps 
should be taken to secure permission to send Minnesota 
nurses to the front. News of increased sickness among 
the soldiers in camp was received everyday, and the need 
of trained nurses was pressing. The society voted to 
send greetings and expressions of gratitude to the Red 


22 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


Cross Society in San Francisco for its kindness to the 
Minnesota regiment while in camp at the Presidio. 

During a meeting held July 2 in the president’s officej 
508 Masonic Temple^ word was received that about 
thirty men of Company A, Fifteenth regiment, were at 
the armory in need of supplies. The men were not in 
government service, but were waiting to be mustered in. 
Governor Clough gave $50 for their maintenance while 
waiting for the regiment to be recruited, and the society 
said it would take care of them until they were sent to 
Camp Ramsey. Mr. W. M. Regan was authorized to 
purchase $25 worth of provisions, tin cups, plates and 
other articles. The resignation at this time of Mr. Luth 
J aeger from the finance committee, of which he had been 
chairman, was accepted with regret. He had been of 
great service in every department of the work. Mr. Regan 
was elected to fill the vacancy. Throughout, the society 
was deeply indebted to Messrs. Regan, Kennedy, Kauf- 
man and Simmons for their efficient work on the finance 
committee. 

In a meeting of July 2 it was decided to telegraph 
to Mr. H. A. Castle in Washington, asking him to en- 
deavor to obtain from Assistant Surgeon General Alden 
for the Minnesota society, authority to send and main- 
tain nurses at the front. The following was his reply : 

Washington, D. C., July 7, 1898. 
Secretary of the Red Cross Society of Minnesota, Min- 
neapolis : 

I was unable until today to get access to Dr. Alden, 
Assistant Surgeon General. After seeing him I re- 
plied to your telegram. 



FUNERAL OF BANDMASTER WATSON, THIRTEENTH MINNESOTA VOLUNTEERS, HONOLULU. 





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OF MINNESOTA. 


23 


He tells me that they have no room for nurses outside 
of the service for the Cuban expedition. All the nurses 
are detailed soldiers. Nurses for hospitals in this 
country are now supplied by the Daughters of the 
American Eevolution, with headquarters here in Wash- 
ington. They have thousands of applications more 
than they have places for, and take only skilled and ex- 
perienced persons. The department also considers 
itself able to provide all necessary medicines, bandages, 
delicacies, etc., for the sick and wounded at hospitals, 
having unlimited money at its disposal to purchase 
these things. Still, as an outlet for the patriotic en- 
thusiasm of the people they accept donations as they 
come in and distribute them to hospitals where they are 
most needed. It saves the government that much money 
and does the people good by stimulating their benevo- 
lence. 

I explained to Dr. Alden (whom I knew for several 
years in St. Paul) the nature of your organization and 
what it had already done. His suggestion was that you 
continue sending supplies to Chattanooga and, if prac- 
ticable , to any other point further south where the 
Minnesota regiments may go. He further said that if 
you or any one else saw fit to go with these supplies to 
superintend their distribution, it would undoubtedly be 
a good thing, though the government had no power to 
give you official recognition. The number of hospitals 
will constantly increase with the increase of the army 
and the advance of the unhealthy season. 

The substance of his advice really was that if your 
association wished to send a person to the front the right 
way would be to start amply equipped and with consid- 
erable supplies, first for Chattanooga, and thence, per- 
haps, push on further south as the occasion demanded. 
He did not think any civilian nurses, male or female, 


24 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


would go to Cuba, except those perhaps now with Clara 
Barton, who go primarily to relieve the starving people 
there. But the government will as rapidly as possibly 
bring back the sick and wounded from Cuba to American 
cities, where large hospitals will be established and 
where there will be plenty of work. 

My experience as a soldier in the civil war taught me 
that there was much or more need for hospital supplies 
and sympathetic attention at the rear than at the front. 
I was sick and wounded, an inmate of a dozen hospitals 
at different times. The best ones were nearest the bat- 
tlefield, at Murfreesboro and Nashville. The poorest 
ones were at Louisville and Cincinnati, hundreds of 
miles in the rear. There the officers and attendants 
were under less rigid military supervision. There was 
cruelty, negligence, indifference, ignorance and drunk- 
enness. 

Your Red Cross association, therefore, has an ample 
field for work until the war closes, and you can, as 
Colonel Alden suggests, scarce go amiss in striking for 
any locality where our Minnesota soldiers are likely to 
be. I wish I could give you more definite information, 
but this is direct from the medical headquarters, and is 
all there is to say. The National Red Cross Association 
here is doing nothing effectively. But anything that 
your association can do to alleviate suffering will be 
timely and effective wherever the work may be put in. 

Verv truly yours, 

HENRY A. CASTLE. 


Washington, D. C., July 13, 1898. 

Since writing to you last I have obtained a little more 
information as to the organization of the so-called Na- 
tional Red Cross Society. It seems that when Miss Bar- 
ton left for Cuba she delegated to her brother, Stephen 


OF MINNESOTA. 


25 



Barton, of 'New York City, the authority to collect 
money and supplies for the benefit of the National So- 
ciety and forward the same to her. His address is 
Stephen Barton, care of Bed Cross, New York, 1ST. Y. 
Possibly, by correspondence with him, some new light 
may be thrown on the dark subject, although, as I un- 
derstand it, his functions solely relate to the collection 
of money and supplies. 

I am further informed that the headquarters of the 
National Bed Cross Society in this city is in charge of 
B. H. Warner. His address is No. 1310 G Street, Y. 
W., Washington, D. C. To those headquarters Miss 
Barton assigned the work of receiving and distributing 
all money and supplies destined for Camp Alger and 
Portress Monroe. Beyond this function they seem to 
have no authority . 

Upon the whole, then, the machinery for perfecting a 
national organization and keeping up correspondence with 
auxiliary societies seem to be entirely lacking. In other 
words, each auxiliary society must, apparently, work on 
its own lines, and use its discretion as to where its con- 
tributions shall be sent. In view of this. Dr. Alden’s 
advice that Minnesota societies concentrate their en- 
ergies principally on the relief of Minnesota troops 
would seem to be the only solution of the problem. 

Yery sincerely yours, 

HEHBY A. CASTLE. 


July 5 Mrs. Prank Hill was instructed to see that 
each member of the Pifteenth regiment received a box 
of lunch to take to Camp Bamsey, as preparations might 
not be completed for the arrival of the men. She was 
also asked to visit Camp Bamsey and ascertain what 
hospital supplies were needed. 


s. 


26 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


July 8 the examining committee for nurses reported 
that Miss Elizabeth Chant, Miss Merrill, Mrs. Mary 
House and Mrs. Mary Pennell had been accepted. 

July 14 a telegram was received from Dr. Clark, sur- 
geon of the Twelfth regiment at Chickamauga, saying 
he had purchased hospital supplies with the money for- 
warded for the purpose. The president of the society 
was authorized to obtain, if possible, permission from 
Governor Clough for the Red Cross to act with the sur- 
geons of the Fifteenth regiment at Camp Ramsey and 
send nurses to aid in caring for the sick soldiers. 

The great problem of how to place Red Cross nurses 
in the different camps had not yet been solved, and the 
president was a<rain authorized to prepare an appeal to 
the medical authorities of the army asking for the ad- 
mission of trained women nurses from the R_ed Cross 
of Minnesota to the field hospitals. It was further de- 
sired that he secui’e the co-operation of Governor Clough. 
A meeting was called for July 21 to decide what should 
be done to obtain the necessary permission to send 
nurses to the camps. Every mail brought news of the 
suffering, sickness and deaths at Chickamauga, and it 
had become imperative that something be done at once 
for the relief of the volunteers. 

At this juncture the Clara Hill circle offered to pay 
the transportation of the first nurse sent, and there were 
reports from others willing to assist in maintaining a 
nurse in the field. Many suggestions were made, but 
no definite action had been taken when it was time to 
adjourn the meeting, and another session was called for 


J 



RED CROSS AMBULANCE AT CAMP RAMSEY. 








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OF MINNESOTA. 


27 


the evening. It was there decided to send Dr. Bes- 
sie Park Haines to Washington as the representative of 
the society^ to labor with the War Department for the 
admission of the Bed Cross nurses of Minnesota to the 
division and field hospitals. It was also decided to 
send Miss Chant to Chickamauga Park with supplies. 
Miss Chant left for Chickamauga Saturday evening, 
July 22, taking with her a tent which Governor Clough 
had supplied. Dr. Haines left for Washington July 
25, and arrived July 27, with the following petition 
and letters : 

Bed Cross Society of Minnesota. 

Minneapolis, Minn., July 18, 1898. 

To the Hon. General Bussell A. Alger, Secretary of 

War, Washington, D. C. 

The Bed Cross Society of Minnesota desires to sup- 
plement the provisions made by the War Department 
for the care of the sick men among the Minnesota vol- 
unteers, by furnishing trained women nurses to attend 
and wait upon them in the field hospitals of the army. 
We respectfully tender to the government the services 
of eighteen experienced nurses, all of whom are ready 
to enter upon their duties without delay. From news 
items furnished the daily press, it has become widely 
understood that the labors of untrained nurses, such as 
are detailed for the purpose, are not adequate to the 
proper care of the sick soldiers, and we doubt not they 
have fallen far short of satisfying the medical corps 
whom they have professed to assist. 

Minnesota desires that her soldiers in the service of 
the nation shall not, when confined in the hospital by 
disease or wounds, lack any portion of the fullest care, 
whether of medical attention or nursing, which modern 


28 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


skill or advanced humanity can supply. We learn that 
the sick Minnesota soldiers in the field hospitals do not 
have the best or most approved nursing. The people of 
the state, through this society, offer to place trained 
nurses by the^cots of her men in these hospitals. 

As evidence of the ability of this society to do what it 
undertakes, we refer to our work of the past two months, 
in furnishing to the regimental hospitals of the Twelfth, 
Thirteenth and Fourteenth Minnesota regiments now in 
the field, and of the Fifteenth Minnesota regiment, now 
at Camp Ramsey, St. Paul, hospital supplies of various 
kinds, medicines, delicacies and food suitable to the 
sick room, in large amounts, in addition to all those 
furnished by the government. The nurses we offer 
are trained and experienced, selected from a numerous 
list of applicants by an examining board of veteran 
physicians and surgeons. They will serve in entire 
conformity to the regulations prescribed for the women 
nurses already out, and to the orders of the surgeons in 
charge. We believe that those surgeons will welcome 
such an addition to their working force. 

We make this tender in the spirit of the great Red 
Cross movement, which is doing so much to ameliorate 
the harshness of war and to humanize as far as possible 
its operations. We seek to aid in extending to the 
treatment of the nation’s sick and wounded upon our 
own soil the same beneficence and sympathetic kindness 
which the National Red Cross, as a participant in the 
international movement, is exhibiting upon foreign 
fields. 

We are aware that to admit women to field hospitals 
as nurses will be an innovation. But the entire Red 
Cross movement is an innovation, and such also is the 
present war, conducted as it is upon humanitarian prin- 
ciples, wholly new in the experience of nations. A sal- 


OF MINNESOTA. 


29 


utary innovation needs no apology. The superiority of 
women nurses is conceded. The IsTavy Department has 
recently admitted women nurses to its hospitals, and 
humanity applauds. 

Our tender, if accepted, will secure to the department 
the immediate services of qualified nurses, and intro- 
duce the new system without delay. We believe the 
time is ripe for such a departure from the old system. 

We therefore make bold to urge through the Ked 
Cross Society the adoption in such manner as your own 
wisdom may suggest, that Minnesota may be permitted 
to furnish to her sons in arms who are sick or disabled 
within our national domain, this additional service, and 
to give this further evidence of her devotion to the ISTa- 
tion and the Flag. 

Eespectfully submitted, 

J. W. MACDONALD, President. 

E. A. PUS SELL, Vice President. 

J. O. PIERCE, Treasurer. 


St. Paul, Minn., July 25, 1898. 
Hon. Russell A. Alger, Secretary of War: 

My Dear Sir: I heartily approve and endorse the 

proposition which is on file, or will be filed, in the War 
Department from the Red Cross Society of Minnesota, 
with respect to attention to the soldiers in the field and 
in camp. 

I regard the proposition as a great advance in himian- 
itarian methods, that wherever practicable women nurses 
should be allowed to minister to our soldiers. This 
was fully demonstrated in the last civil war, although 
their ministrations were not directed by the organization 
and discipline which is purposed in the present instance. 

Yours truly, 

C. K. DAVIS. 


30 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


STATE OF MINNESOTA, 
Executive Department, 

St. Paul, Minn., July 18, 1898. 

To the Secretary of War, Washington, D. C. 

Sir: The Ped Cross Society of Minnesota is a 

strong, active and efficient incorporated society, man- 
aged by officers of conservative views, who are expe- 
rienced in charitable work. For the past two months, 
or since May 15, 1898, this society has accomplished a 
large amount of work in supplying the hospitals of the 
Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth regiments of Min- 
nesota Infantry Volunteers with articles necessary for 
the proper care and the comfort of the soldiers of those 
regiments wOio have been sick in these hospitals. In this 
service it has expended upwards of $1,000 in money and 
has furnished an equal amount in needed supplies. 

The society is financially strong enough to meet the 
buiffiens of the additional work which it seeks to under- 
take. In entering upon this work it is voicing the senti- 
ment and expressing the will of the loyal and patriotic 
citizens of Minnesota, upwards of 1,600 of whom have 
thus united to care for the sick and wounded of her sol- 
diers. The daughter of a former governor of Minnesota 
is now serving as a nurse in one of our naval hospitals 
by the side of the daughter of the secretary of the navy ; 
and others of Minnesota’s daughters ask the privilege 
of furnishing like devoted service in the hospitals of 
the army. 

In the name of the people of this commonwealth who 
earnestly desire that their soldiers in the field may have 
the benefit of every care which humanity can suggest 
or modern civilization provide, I respectfully urge upon 
the medical authorities of the army the propriety of 
granting the request of the Red Cross Society of Min- 


OF MINNESOTA. 


31 


nesota that their trained nurses be admitted to service 
in the field hospitals of the American army. 

Very respectfully, 

D. M. CLOTJGH, Governor. 


Minneapolis, Minn., July 22, 1898. 

The Eed Cross Society of Minnesota has shown 
itself efficient and active in the work which it has been 
doing for some months past in supplying the regimental 
hospitals of the Minnesota regiments with hospital ac- 
commodations and facilities, and with food and deli- 
cacies for the sick in the hospitals, in addition to that 
furnished by the government. 

Its officers are active, earnest, judicious and ex- 
perienced, and they may be trusted to perform well 
whatever charitable duties they undertake. I have 
for some time been apprised of their desire to send 
their selected and trained nurses to serve in the field 
hospitals of the army, and now that it seems that such 
service is called for by the circumstances of the case, 1 
join in earnestly urging the war department to recog- 
nize this society by giving them the deffired authority. 

L. FLETOHEE, 

M. 0. Fifth District Minnesota. 


DE. HAINES^ VISIT IN WASHINGTON. 

Dr. Haines called upon Auditor Castle Wednesday 
morning and was introduced to Mrs. Electa Smith, of 
the treasury department. Mrs. Smith made the state- 
ment that there was no sympathy between the war de- 
partment and the National Eed Cross, and a meeting 


32 THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 

was arranged for the same evening at Mrs. Smith’s 
home, so Dr. Haines might meet Mrs. J. C. Tanner 
and Mrs. J. Ellen Eoster, both of whom are members 
of the National Red Cross committee. 

The committee rejoiced that a representative from 
Minnesota had been sent to intercede with the war de- 
partment, for they had exhausted every means in their 
power to obtain permission to send Red Cross nurses 
to the camps. It was thought that an appeal from a 
Western state would be effective, and they promised to 
use all their influence to make the mission of the repre- 
sentative of the Red Cross of Minnesota successful. 

The next day Dr. Haines called upon Mrs. Ellen 
Mussey, attorney, who had heard that a representative 
from the Red Cross Society of Minnesota was in Wash- 
ington and that an appeal was to be made to the war 
department. Her welcome was very cordial. After 
some conversation concerning the efforts and failures 
of the National Red Cross Society, Mrs. J. Ellen Fos- 
ter was interviewed at her home. 

When Mrs. Foster heard the plans of the Red Cross 
Society of Minnesota she said: believe you have 

been sent by Providence, and if you are strong enough 
to approach the president as forcibly as you have laid 
your case before me, I am sure you will succeed.” 

In the afternoon Dr. Haines visited Fort Meyer, 
where she met the major in command, and told him she 
was on a tour of inspection. He was cordial in his 
greetings and accompanied her through headquarters. 
He afterward sent an orderly with her to the bar- 
racks. Dr. Haines’ own words best describe this visit : 


V 


OF MINNESOTA. 


33 


^^This was my first view of a military hospital, and 
if it had never before occurred to me that women nurses 
were indispensable to the comfort and care of sick 
soldiers, what I saw at Fort Meyer would have con- 
vinced me. Sixteen men lay in different stages of 
typhoid fever. Their only nurses were men who knew 
nothing about caring for the sick. Fever baths were 
given by dipping the patients in a tub of water and 
returning them to bed without drying. No doubt this 
was the best method a man could think of in an emerg- 
ency. A woman would have devised some better plan, 
even if not a nurse. With these existing conditionsr 
professional women nurses had been refused admit- 
tance. They were told their services were not needed. 
If the poor, sick lads could have spoken — and many 
of them were mere boys — they would surely have 
pleaded for the intelligent care of women. 

^^The physicians in charge realized the necessity of 
trained women’s care, and they waited in daily hope 
that the war department would recognize the fact that 
such nurses must be sent to the camp. 

^^The head surgeons did not faithfully report the 
great needs of the camp hospital or the war department 
must have listened to their appeals. Surely some one 
had blundered, when sick boys were left day after day 
suffering for want of proper attention. 

^^As I appreciated the magnitute of the mission I 
had undertaken, a wave of helplessness passed over me, 
and for a moment it seemed impossible that I could sue- 


34 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 

f 

ceed where so many had failed. But the Bed Cross 
Society of Minnesota was waiting with expectant heart 
and our suffering soldiers called with pleading voices. 
For the moment only did I allow personal weakness 
to influence my desire to accomplish the work I had 
been sent to perform. 

^^The next morning Mrs. Mussey and I visited Camp 
Alger. In order to realize the effect of war upon a na- 
tion one should mingle with the crowds of lookers-on. 
Anxiety, lawlessness, listlessness were pictured on every 
face. 

^^If the people of the country could have mingled 
with the crowds through which we passed that morning, 
could have seen the tents, shacks and stands, filled with 
all kinds of made-up drinks, anything to sell to the sol- 
diers, the demoralizing influences of war would have 
been instantly recognized. 

^^The venders of unhealthy mixtures which were sold 
to the soldiers for refreshing drinks sprang up like 
mushrooms in the night after the canteens had been 
abolished. Something might be said concerning the 
wisdom of the canteen crusade, but we were not en- 
gaged in that warfare. 

^^As we approached Camp Alger we observed a Bed 
Cross tent and quickly sought the man in charge. He 
informed us that no requests for any kind of supplies 
had been made, and there seemed nothing for the Bed 
Cross to do. From there we went to the camp of the 
surgeon. He looked too easy-going to ever trouble 
himself about any needs but his own. 


OF MINNESOTA. 


35 


"111 the first division hospital we found .sixty men ill 
with typhoid fever. On our right were men in dif- 
ferent stages of the disease, and they were clean and 
appeared to be well cared for. On our left were a 
number ^vaiting to be removed to Fort Meyer. They 
had to be carried in an ambulance, so it required many 
hours to transport a few. Some had been lying sick 
three days on a bare cot in their uniforms. 

^^One lad, only sixteen years of age, lay on a bare 
wire cot with his coat for a pillow. He was too ill 
to brush the flies from his mouth and ears. As I 
paused at his side and stroked his fever-burning brow 
he told me he had been sick three davs and his one wish 

t/ 

was to see ^mother.’ The thought of her anguish, 
if she could have seen him, swept over me as I stood by 
the dying hoj. Yes, dying, for he never saw the 
mother for whom his whole soul yearned. As I turned 
from his cot with aching heart I was more than ever 
determined to secure authoritv for the Red Cross So- 

t/ 

ciety to send women nurses to the camps. 

^Huring the half hour I was among them I did not 
see any water or a drop of medicine given the patients. 
The man in charge was a strong, healthy person who 
knew nothing about sickness. Still, the government 
did not need women nurses ! 

^^Yow I hear a cry against the war department, but 
it was not to blame. We must recall what a great de- 
mand had been made upon that department without 
warning. Men and physicians, who had been placed 
in charge and were well paid to see that everything 


36 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


needful was done for the care of the sick, ate, drank 
and were merry while their fellow-men were dying 
around them. Were they too indifferent to report 
true conditions? 

^^If General Sternberg could have seen what we 
saw in one short half-hour women nurses would have 
been furnished every camp at once. But the officials 
were working night and day, and rightly expected those 
they employed to report all needs of camp and hos- 
pital. 

^Trom the sick ward we went to a small tent on a 
hill, called ^Dog Tent,’ where we found four men just 
brought in from Fort Meyer convalescent from typhoid 
fever. They were trying to eat pork and beans and 
so-called roast beef ; in other words, beef stewed in the 
oven. They could not eat the meat. We saw portions 
of the beef before it went in the oven, and it was as 
good as could be bought. The cook evidently knew as 
little about cooking as the nurses knew about nursing. 

^^At the first division hospital we were told they did 
not need anything, and they ended by asking for a 
supply of medicines, sheets, pillow-cases, cot-ticks and 
canvas for the ground between the cots, as the dust was 
inches thick. All these supplies were sent at once by 
the National Red Cross committee. 

^^On our way to the Second Division hospital we 
passed the Missouri regiment. Their camp was nicely 
arranged, and the word Velcome’ in boughs and boards, 
placed over the gate, greeted us as we entered the camp. 
Everything was clean and orderly, and there was no 


OF MINNESOTA. 


37 


illness. They gave us a most cordial welcome and 
three rousing cheers for the Ked Cross as we left. 

^Tt was inspection day at the Second Division hos- 
pital, and the boys looked clean and comfortable. The 
sergeant was very courteous and escorted us through the 
hospital and grounds. This camping place seemed to 
have been most unfortunately chosen, as the branches of 
the trees were thick at the top so the sun could not dry 
the low, marshy ground. It was an ideal place for 
the breeding of malaria and fever germs. 

^^We were told they had everything needed in the 
hospital, but after a few inquires Ave found they were 
short of sheets, towels and medicines, as well as other 
things. These necessities were supplied by the ISTa- 
tional Red Cross committee at Washington. 

^^We heard that a feAV miles away a Pennsylvania 
regiment Avas stationed, and nearly every man was sick. 
After visiting Camp Alger, next day Mrs. Mussey and 
I drove in an ambulance to Point Sheridan, where part 
of the Pennsylvania Fifteenth regiment was stationed. 
It was an ideal camp, located in a beautiful orchard. 
The streets were attractive, the tents were floored and 
the good feeling that existed betAveen men and oflicers 
Avas plainly visible. They had underground cellars, 
and the boys were building a hospital. There Avere 
sixteen patients in a temporary hospital on the bank 
of the Potomac. 

^^Being a physician, I Avas invited to inspect every 
patient. There were the same complications here as 
elsewhere — fever, tuberculosis and kindred diseases — 


38 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


but everything was done to make the men comfortable. 
The physicianTii charge seemed as careful as he would 
have been in his home practice. The colonel Avas a 
kind and thoughtful maiij Avho evinced a personal in- 
terest in every soldier. The good-felloAvship of this 
camp Avas quite different from what we had observed 
in other camps. 

detachment of the regular army artillery was 
stationed here, and, though some of the men Avere sick, 
they Avere Avell cared for. We dined at the officers’ 
table. The food was plain, but Avell cooked. The of- 
ficers AATre very glad to learn that supplies AA^ould be 
furnished by the ISTational Red Cross committee, and 
a large order for cots, sheets and other articles was 
sent them. The vieAv of this camp dispelled some of 
the horrors of camp life, and. Ave felt more than be- 
fore that the life might be made endurable. The of- 
ficers had been most cordial and the Red Cross Avas in- 
vited to come again. 

^^After leaAung Point Sheridan my one thought Avas 
what should be done in the interest of my mission. I 
had seen enough to conAunce me that efiicient Avomen 
nurses must be sent to the camps if the soldier boys were 
to be saATd from disease and death. 

^^Saturday morning the Is^ational Red Cross commit- 
tee in Washington held a meeting at headquarters to 
determine Avhat should be done. The case Avas too im- 
peratwe to admit of delay, so Ave agreed upon im- 
mediate action, and Mrs. Electa Smith and I AA^aited 


OF MINNESOTA. 


39 


upon General Sternberg that afternoon. He received 
us very cordially. 

^^After presenting my credentials I told him how our 
Minnesota boys were sick and dying at Chickamauga 
Park. Having received word that only about one-half 
were fit for duty, and that we believed the ordinary 
hospital corps was not competent to nurse typhoid 
fever patients, I besought him, in the name of the Ked 
Cross Society of Minnesota, to permit the society to 
send trained nurses to care for the Minnesota soldiers. 

I told him the society was ready and waiting to pay 
all expenses of the nurses. 

^^After listening to my intercession for our suffering 
defenders of right and liberty, he said : H do not think 
the field hospital is the place for a woman.’ 

^^General Sternberg’s further remark that there was 
an abundance of supplies and efficient help in all the 
hospitals had been proven incorrect by my observations 
during my camp visits. I asked him: 

^If your son was lying ill with typhoid fever, would 
you leave him to the care of a man who had been raised 
in the pineries of Minnesota and whose life work had 
been to fell trees or superintend a logging camp V 

^^He hesitatingly answered : ^Ho ; but I do not think 

we have any such.’ 

replied: have visited Camp Alger and found 

men no better qualified in charge of a hospital filled 
with the sick and dying.’ 

^^He immediately said: ^About Camp Alger, who 

located that camp ? It is the last place in the country 


40 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


I should have selected for our soldiers. I was not con- 
sulted.’ 

^^He also said: ^Through the Daughters of the 

American Kevolution I have admitted women nurses 
in Cuba.’ 

^Do I understand you to say/ I asked, ^that you 
do not recognize the National Ked Cross Society; that 
you have refused the Red Cross what you have granted 
the Daughters of the American Revolution?’ 

^^He hesitated again before answering ^Tes.’ 

^^So great was my indignation I rose to my feet, 
stepped in front of him and said: ^General Stern- 

berg, do you mean to tell me that you have turned the 
Red Cross Society down and put the Daughters of the 
American Revolution in its place?’ 

Well, yes,’ he said; ^they made the application 
first.’ 

‘‘ ‘General Sternberg, do I understand you to say that 
the Daughters of the American Revolution offered their 
services before the Red Cross ?’ 

^They did it in the proper way,’ he replied. 

^Am I to take the message to the Red Cross So- 
ciety of Minnesota that you positively refuse to accept 
the Red Cross nurses ?’ 

^^General Sternberg did not reply. Then I thanked 
him in the name of the sick soldiers that he had so far 
departed from his principles as to send women nurses 
to Cuba. 

^^We left General Sternberg with friendly words on 
both sides, but no heavier hearts than ours beat that 


I 


OF MINNESOTA. 41 

day in the City of Washington than Mrs. Smith’s and 
mine. A final resort remained, and we felt as ship- 
wrecked mariners striking out for the floating spar that 
is their last hope. 

^^All day Sunday we clung with almost despairing 
hearts to that one last hope. If the president of the 
nation would not heed our plea, then our mission had 
been in vain. 

^^Monday morning I went to see Mrs. Addison 
Porter. She had just returned from Santiago, where 
she had spent six weeks with Clara Barton. When she 
heard my story she assured me of her sympathy and 
all the aid she could render. After I had listened to 
her experiences in Santiago I was more than ever de- 
termined to remain in Washington until I had ac- 
complished my purpose. I could not carry the word 
^failed’ to the waiting Bed Cross Society of Minne- 
sota. 

^^Accompanied by Mrs. Smith, I visited the White 
House Tuesday. At that time Cabinet meetings were 
held every day, as peace negotiations were hourly ex- 
pected from Spain. Hot since the civil war had the 
government been confronted with so many and so im- 
portant questions. It was doubtful about our being 
able to see the president that day, but we sent in our 
cards and were shown to the private reception room to 
wait. 

^^We waited two hours. Then audience was per- 
mitted. Mr. George A. Brackett, who was also wait- 
ing for an interview, presented me, and, as the presi- 


42 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


dent gave me a cordial greeting, I was shocked to see 
what changes the mental anxiety and the responsi- 
bilities of a few months of war had left in his face. I 
told him that I was secretary of the Red Cross So- 

tj 

ciety of Minnesota, organized and incorporated under 
the state laws. 

^Mr. President,’ I said, Svhen you called for 3,000 
men from the State of Minnesota, she gave her bravest 
and her best. Those boys are now sick and dying in 
camp. Five hundred are unable to report for duty, 
and the mother heart of Minnesota pleads through me 
that she may care for her own.’ 

^^President McKinley answered: T am glad you 
came, and I would like to suggest that you extend your 
generous aid to the American army. I will recom- 
mend you to General Sternberg, who has charge of the 
army hospitals.’ 

^Mr. President,’ I replied, T have seen General 
Sternberg, and all my pleadings are in vain. We 
are able to send nurses and maintain them.’ 

^^The president responded: T will personally rec- 

ommend you, and I am sure you will have what you 
want.’ 

^^The words were few, but they were spoken with an 
assurance that lifted the heavy weight from my heart, 
and I felt that my last hope had floated me in a harbor 
of safety. 

^^The following morning I met Corporal J. C. Tan- 
ner at the war department. He introduced me to 
General Alger, to whom I recalled the letter sent to 


OF MINNESOTA. 


43 


him by Senator Davis in behalf of onr Red Cross so-* 
ciety, and he asked what I wanted. I handed him a 
copy of his order of June 6, 1898 : 

War Department, Washington, June 6, 1898. 

^Clara Barton, President of the American Red 

Cross Society of Washington: 

^The tender of the services of the American Na- 
tional Red Cross made to this department through 
the department of state under date of May 25, 1898, 
for medical and hospital work, as auxiliary to the 
hospital service of the army of the United States, is 
accepted; all representatives and employes of said or- 
ganization to be subject to orders according to the 
rules and discipline of the sixty-third article of war. 

Wery respectfully, 

^R. A. ALGER, Secretary of War.’ 

^ ^General Alger read the order and said : ^That ought 
to go to which I replied : ^So the citizens of our coun- 
try feel, and I am sent here to find out why this order 
is not complied with.’ 

asked him how long it was since the Daughters 
of the American Revolution had been considered a 
philanthropic society. At this point General Stern- 
berg entered. After an exchange of greetings. Secre- 
tary Alger asked : 

^How about this order V 

^^General Sternberg was immediately excited, and 
said : ^Mr. Secretary, I could not attend to this my^ 

self, so I placed it in the hands of an efficient commit- 
tee.’ 


44 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


stepped up and said : ^General Sternberg, the Red 
Cross Society of Minnesota will not increase your 
burdens. Our state will take care of her own.’ 

^^General Sternberg left the room without answer- 
ing. To my question as to how we were to get nurses 
to the front, Secretary Alger made no reply. The in- 
terview had not been very satisfactory, but my hope 
still rested in President McKinley, and, as events 
proved, it was not misplaced confidence. 

While at the headquarters for army nurses Wednes- 
day afternoon. Dr. McGee asked me if I would be per- 
sonally responsible for the nurses sent by the Red 
Cross of Minnesota, as General Sternberg had author- 
ized her to admit them. I was to telegraph for two 
nurses selected from her list of applicants to be sent 
to Camp McPherson. 

^^My object had been gained, and Thursday the first 
Red Cross nurse was ordered to Port Meyer. Disease 
had spread so rapidly that in one week the sick in- 
creased from 60 to 400, and 16 women nurses were sent 
during the week to Port Meyer. The first nurse was 
asked to remove her Red Cross badge, but refused, say- 
ing she would go as a Red Cross nurse or not at all. 

was asked to remain in Washington and go 
through the Southern camps, but I felt it my duty to 
be at home, as I had assumed the responsibility of the 
qualifications and moral character of the nurses sent 
from Minnesota. After a short rest I left for Minne- 
sota and arrived in Minneapolis August 10. I began 


OF MINNESOTA. 


45 


at once filing applications for nurses under the follow- 
ing contract: " 


^Circular 'No, 14. 

War Department, 
^Surgeon General’s Office, 
Washington, ^Tovember 7, 1898. 


^Information for Female Contract Unrses in the 

U. S. Army. 


^Contract and Duties, 

^The contract which is made by the surgeon gen- 
eral with a female nurse for army service is for an un- 
limited period. In signing this contract and taking 
the oath of office a nurse is understood to promise that 
she will perform the important duties entrusted to her 
with unwavering devotion to the welfare of her 
patients and with the dignity of demeanor which is 
essential for army service. Keports of each nurse are 
sent to the surgeon general, and on these reports action 
is based. 

" Tay. 

While under contract a nurse receives $30 a month 
salary, payable either on pay rolls or vouchers. While 
nursing at a hospital she receives also her lodging, 
board and laundry of uniforms. Expenses incurred 
for these things by a nurse will not be refunded. 

^Uniform, 

No uniform for nurses has as yet been prescribed, 
but for the present a nurse is expected to furnish and 


46 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


wear sncli dresses, aprons and caps as are usually con- 
sidered suitable. 

'Chief Nurse, 

the surgeon of a hospital so requests, the 
surgeon general may appoint a chief nurse, whose 
duty it shall be to look after the welfare of all of the 
nurses in the hospital ; to see that they are comfortable 
and that they receive attention when ill ; to assign each 
to her specific duty and see that the hours of such duty 
are strictly kept. She is also expected to have super- 
vision of the general deportment of the nurses and to 
perform such other duties as the surgeon may direct, 
but not to undertake nursing herself. 

'Traveling under Orders, 

3 

i 

^ After signing the contract a nurse is subject to 
military discipline and must promptly obey any or- 
der given her. When traveling under orders she must 
not stop on the way. She must not, under any circum- 
stances, leave her post or take any journey without 
written authority from the surgeon general or from 
the surgeon under whom she is serving. When travel- 
ing under orders she will be furnished in advance with 
transportation. This means an order for her railway 
ticket and sleeping car berth, which are exchanged by 
her at the station for regular tickets. 

I 

'Leaves, 

nurse will not receive pay for time absent from 
duty unless given by the surgeon — in writing — a sick 
leave or leave of absence Vith pay.’ This must be for 
^a specified time, one week before the expiration of 


OF MINNESOTA. 


47 


which the nurse must report in writing to the surgeon 
general for orders, unless she already has orders to re- 
turn to her former place of duty. Should her services 
not be needed at that time the surgeon general may an- 
nul her contract. While on leave with pay the nurse 
is entitled to commutation of rations at the rate of 
25 cents per day. To obtain this she must, when she 
returns to duty, apply to the surgeon, who will indorse 
her papers of leave and forward them to the nearest 
commissary. 

'Leave of Absence, 

\ 

^When a nurse is granted leave of absence, at her 
own request, she does not receive pay for the time ab- 
sent, unless the surgeon grants — in writing — a ^leave 
with pay,’^ which cannot exceed ten days or be allowed 
soon after entering the service. As she is not traveling 
under orders she does not receive transportation. 

'Siclc Leave, 

^In case of sickness contracted in the line of duty, 
a nurse is entitled to medical attendance either in her 
quarters or at the nearest available army hospital. But 
if she prefers to return home, or to some other hospital, 
the surgeon may grant a sick leave with pay (for thirty 
days). If the surgeon also gives her written orders 
to proceed to her destination, she will then be entitled 
to transportation, as explained above. In such a case 
another nurse may, if necessary, be ordered to accom- 
pany her, and transportation furnished her also. If 
unable to return to duty at the end of the sick leave, a 
certificate from the attending physician stating this 
fact, and the probable date when the nurse will be fit 
for duty, must be forwarded to the surgeon granting 




'■ - / 

I 

^ / , 


48 THE RED CROSS SOCIETY • ' 

the sick leave or to the surgeon general, if she has no 
station. This certificate is sufficient to cover absence 
for the term specified therein. Bills for medical at- 
tendance cannot, under the regulations, be allo’wed. 

^Transfer. 

^Transfers from one hospital to another are ordered 
only when the necessities of the service require it. The 
preference of a nurse is consulted whenever possible, 
but she is expected to remain at the hospital to which 
she is assigned so long as her services are needed there. 
hTurses who go to Porto Eico or Cuba are expected to 
remain at least six months, if their services are satis- 
factory. 

^Annulment of Contract. 

^The contract of a nurse may be annulled at any 
time by the surgeon general or by his direction. A' 
nurse is not expected to request such annulment before 
the expiration of two months, unless able to give satis- 
factory reason therefor. 

^Transportation, as above defined, is given on annul- 
ment of contract, except when ^Tor misconduct or 
neglect of duty.” 

^Transportation will he to place of making the con- 
tract, except that when made at the place of duty it 
will be furnished to the place designated in the con- 
tract as her residence. 

^GEO. M. STEEETBEEG, 
^Surgeon General U. S. Army.’ ” 


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DR. ANITA NEWCOMB McGEE, ACTING ASSISTANT SURGEON GENERAL U. S- A^. 




OF MINNESOTA. 


49 


SKETCH OE DE. McGEE. 

Dr. Anita Kewcomb McGee, as related in a brief 
sketch of her life in ‘^Who is Who in America/’ was 
born in Washington in 1864. She was the daughter 
of Professor Simon Kewcomb. She received her ed- 
ucation in the private schools of Washington, followed 
by special courses at Kewnham college, Cambridge, 
England, and the University of Geneva, spending three 
years in Europe. In 1888 she was married to W. J. 
McGee of Washington. She continued with her stud- 
ies after her marriage and graduated with the degree of 
medicine from the Columbian university in 1892. She 
took a special post graduate course in gynecology in 
Johns Hopkins from 1892 to 1896, and began her 
practice in Washington. 

She is a fellow and ex-secretary in the American 
Association of Advance Science, was a student of his- 
tory, genealogy and sociology, and became an author- 
ity on communistic societies in the United States. She 
is a leader in the National Society of the Daughters of 
the American Eevolution, and is now one of the vice- 
presidents-general. She was director of the D. A. K. 
hospital corps from April to September, 1898, which 
selected the trained women nurses for army and navy 
service. Aug. 29, 1898, she was appointed acting 
assistant surgeon of the U. S. A., and is the only woman 
army officer. She is stationed in the surgeon general’s 
office in Washington in charge of nurses. 


50 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


MAGNITUDE OF A MONTH’S WOKK. 

If the work of the Red Cross Society of Minnesota 
and its auxiliaries during the month of July, 1898, 
could be given in detail the record would fill a history. 
Every active member of the society was spurred by the 
necessities of the situation to make every effort that 
promised relief to the sick and dying, without regard 
to personal comfort. 

Dr. Haines’ notes tell nothing of the hours and days 
of unselfish effort she put in the work. To the detri- 
ment of her private practice she opened her office for all 
communications, personal or written. Every hour of 
the day made some demand upon her strength and time. 
Answers were given to all the questions made at head- 
quarters for information regarding the society and its 
work. The days were too short for half that had to 
be done, and letters were written far in the night. Per- 
sonally she answered hundreds of letters that came 
from the East and West. She attended to the for- 
warding of supplies and met all demands with heroic 
courage. The crowning act of all her effort was the 
victory she won in Washington. Others had failed 
where she succeeded. Paraphrasing a familiar quota- 
tion, her strength was as a thousand, because her pur- 
pose was true. 

Except for Dr. Haines’ determined effort, weeks 
and months might have passed before the suffering 
boys in camp received proper care and nursing. It 


OF MINNESOTA. 


51 


is not possible to estimate how many precious lives 
were saved to the country by the intelligent service 
of the Eed Cross nurse. England has her Florence 
hHghtingale, America her Clara Barton, and the Min- 
nesota boys in camp during the summer of 1898 have 
the mother heart of Bessie Park Haines to thank for 
life and tender care. 

The deeds of many heroic men and women are never 
recorded on the pages of history. The consciousness 
of work well done is all the reward they expect, but 
the world could easily afford recognition of what the 
true hearted have done for humanity. 

That the magnitude of the work of the Eed Cross 
Society in July may be appreciated, a short resume of 
what was accomplished during one month follows. The 
number of laborers in the work will prevent personal 
mention of all. The officers of the society were too 
busy to record every donation, however welcome, and 
every service so willingly giv^en. When an organiza- 
tion is pressed on every hand by many arduous tasks 
in a short space of time, it happens unintentionally 
that many efficient workers and much valuable aid are 
accepted without seeming acknowledgment. The Eed 
Cross Society was not inappreciative, and every officer 
felt grateful thanks for all the kindness and loyal serv- 
ice from the people. 

The express and telegraph companies gave reduced 
rates as their method of helping. During July the 
workroom was filled from early morning until night, 
and many women carried material home to make neces- 


52 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


sary articles for hospital supply. No service was be- 
grudged and all gave gladly. The Clara Hill circle col- 
lected hundreds of towels at a lawn towel social. Mass 
meetings were held nearly every night in a public place, 
and there were executive sessions almost every day. 

Auxiliaries were organized in Anoka, St. Charles, 
Eed Wing and elsewhere. Letters from Chickamauga 
stating that supplies Avere needed, hurried the ship^ 
ments, and Avell filled boxes were sent off daily. 

The children of All Souls’ church presented a flag 
drill in aid of the work. Donations Avere received 
from St. Louis Park church, St. Peter, Merriam Park, 
and many other cities and villages responded liberally 
to the call for supplies and money. Numerous bene- 
fits Avere given by societies and organizations in dif- 
ferent parts of Minneapolis, and interest in the Ped 
Cross Avas intense while the necessity continued. 

HOSPITAL SEKVICE FOE THE SOLDIEKS. 

Dr. Haines had returned to Minneapolis from Wash- 
ington August 10, after ten days’ absence. Arrange- 
ments were made at once for nurses aaEo Avere ready to 
go to the front, to meet in her office and receive instruc- 
tions. The Eed Cross Society assumed the responsi- 
bility of the nurses and their competency; also agreed 
to pay their transportation to the field. This, how- 
ever, was not necessary. 

In the meeting of Aug. 10th word was received from 
Camp Eamsey that assistance was desired, as many of 



KITCHEN SCENE AT CAMP RAMSEY, FIFTEENTH MINNESOTA VOLUNTEERS. 



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OF MINNESOTA. 


53 


the boys were ill. A committee was instructed to find 
suitable accommodations for the sick^ and a report was 
returned August 10 that the old Stryker seminary 
building in St. Anthony Park could be secured. The 
governor said he would furnish blankets, cots and 
other needful things, but the Red Cross Society decided 
that this arrangement would involve hard work and 
heavy responsibility for a few, and deemed it a wiser 
plan to place the patients in different hospitals in the 
cities. 

Dr. Haines was assigned the duty of placing the sick, 
while Mrs. Mary Stebbins was asked to ascertain how 
many each hospital would accommodate. 

The next day Mrs. Stebbings reported that St. Bar- 
nabas’ hospital would accept all it could care for, for 
seven dollars a week, and Dr. Irwin and Dr. Smith 
would willingly give their services. Dr. Haines was 
authorized to secure transportation from Camp Kam- 
sey to the hospitals, and on August 12, six men were 
removed in the ambulances to St. Barnabas and three 
to Asbury hospital, Minneapolis. 

The ambulance method of transportation was very 
slow and Mr. Thomas Lowry was solicited for the use 
of street cars. He acceded with alacrity and his kind- 
ness was highly appreciated, as it provided easy and 
quick transportation. 

Dr. Haines reported that Northwestern hospital 
would care for twenty-five men for five dollars a week 
each, and furnish nurses. Sitxy men were reported 
sick at Camp Ramsey. By August 14 twenty-three 


54 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


of the patients were in ISTorthwestern hospital attended 
by Dr. Cora Smith Eaton, Dr. Margaret Koch and Dr. 
Henry C. Aldrich, all of whom signified their willing- 
ness to give their service gratuitously. 

During a meeting of the society on August 14, the 
treasurer stated that $1,Y95.13 had been received from 
various sources; that $814.17 had been expended, and 
that a balance of $980.60 remained. It was decided 
to have the president. Dr. J. W. Macdonald, inter- 
view the governor and ask the state to be responsible 
for the expense of caring for the soldiers in the hos- 
pitals. It was voted to make the governor of the state 
a member of the society ex officio. 

In a meeting August 17, a letter of acknowledg- 
ment was received from the California Ked Cross 
Society. 

Dr. Macdonald reported that Governor Clough had 
telegraphed General Sternberg regarding the soldiers 
in the hospitals of Minneapolis and St. Paul. General 
Sternberg had replied immediately approving the 
cause of the Ked Cross Society, and pledging the 
United State government to pay the hospitals ten dol- 
lars a week for every man cared for, the hospitals to 
furnish everything required. 

This was good news to the society, for funds in hand 
were not sufficient to pay expenses. Volunteers were 
asked to visit the sick soldiers and write letters for 
them, and on motion it was decided to send a barber to 
shave the men, the society to pay the bill. 


OF MINNESOTA. 


55 


In a meeting Angust 26, the acceptance of Miss 
Welch as ^^contract nurse’’ was reported. She had 
been ordered to Sternberg hospital, Camp Ohicka- 
mauga, and the society voted to give her $25 for inci- 
dental expenses. Word was received from Miss Eliza- 
beth Chant that she would soon require assistance at 
Camp Chickamauga. Letters from Miss Diltz and 
Mrs. Mary Pennell at Fort McPherson, were read. 
They asked for stamps and stationery and ten dollars 
were appropriated for the purpose. 

The death of William Kenny of Company G, Fif- 
teenth Minnesota regiment, was reported. Mr. Kenny 
had been in Northwestern hosiptal. His home was in 
Graceville, whither his remains were sent for burial. 
The society purchased flowers and a flag, and Dr. 
Haines attended to all the last services that could be 
rendered one who had sacriflced his life for right and 
justice as much as though he had fallen on the fleld 
of battle. It was Dr. Haines’ sad duty to drape the 
bodies of eight lads with the flag they had sworn to 
serve. 

During the August 26 meeting the possibility of 
sending nurses to Manila was discussed and the secre- 
tary was instructed to write Dr. Anita McGee in 
Washington, asking her to try and obtain permission 
from the government. August 27, the society decided 
to send Miss Jacobson to Atlanta at once. August 29, 
a letter was received from the Twelfth regiment at 
Chickamauga Park, asking for a hospital train to bring 
home the sick boys. 


56 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


SENDING A HOSPITAL TKAIN. 

The secretary was instructed to take the letter to the 
governor and petition for a train. Governor Clough 
responded in so loyal a manner, that within a few 
days Col. Poland B. Hartley left the Union station in 
Minneapolis with a train fully equipped. Dr. A. E. 
Highee was physician in charge with three assistant 
surgeons and five nurses. 

The folowing letter had aroused the state to this 
prompt action: 

Washington, Nov. 25, 1898. 

Dr. Bessie P. Haines, Secretary Bed Cross Society 

Minnesota, 508 Masonic Temple, Minneapolis, 

Minn. 

My Dear Dr. Haines: The orders of the surgeon 

general were that only graduate nurses should be sent 
to Manila, so I should not consider those of whom you 
write eligible. 

It will save time if, when sending the card of a 
nurse, she will add the endorsement of the superintend- 
ent of her training school and a medical certificate of 
her health and strength. 

Very sincerely, 

ANITA NEWCOMB McGEE, 
Acting Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A. 



REV. C. B. CRESSEY READING FUNERAL SERVICE AT THE GRAVE OF PRIVATE COLWELL, THIRTEENTH REGIMENT. 


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OF MINNESOTA. 


57 


Lexington, Ky., August 29, 1898. 
Dr. Bessie P. Haines, Masonic Temple, Minneapolis, 

Minn. 

My Dear Doctor : I have no doubt you will be very 

much surprised to receive a letter addressed to you 
from myself as Traveling Passenger Agent of the Chi- 
cago & North Western Railroad. But having been a 
citizen of Minnesota at one time, I am particularly in- 
terested in the Minnesota troops, now encamped at 
Lexington, Ky., and Knoxville, Tenn., and the sick in 
the hospitals as well as those who are in the division 
hospital at Chickamauga. Finding the conditions 
were such that it would be impossible to express them 
on paper, and taking for an example the actions of the 
states of Pennsylvania, New York and Missouri, which 
sent hospital trains fully equipped to the different 
camps to transport and care for the sick of the different 
regiments of their states, I feel that Minnesota should 
not be behind in this movement. 

For this reason I made it my business to meet the 
officers of the 12th and llth Minnesota regiments as 
well as their surgeons and Captain Caine, Regimental 
Surgeon of the 12th Minnesota, who very kindly gave 
me information that would assist me, and suggested 
that I write you in regard to this movement, feeling 
that you, of all others in Minnesota, were best fitted to 
introduce this and bring it to a successful issue. Cap- 
tain Caine also suggests that you accompany this train 
and take charge of it en route. 

For your information I will say that the. Colonel of 
the 12th regiment has promised to wire Governor 
Clough, asking him to promote a movement of this 
kind, and I have asked my General Passenger Agent, 
Mr. Kinskern, of Chicago, to interest Congressman 
James A. Tawney and Captain Van Sant, of Winona, 


58 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


Minn., as well as other prominent men throughout the 
state, to use their best endeavors to bring this to a suc- 
cessful termination. 

I want to say to you personally that unless Minne- 
sota, with all her resources, comes to the front, and that 
quickly, to save the boys who have been in camp for 
the last three months, it is my belief that 50 per cent 
of them will never see the state of Minnesota again. 
Consequently you can appreciate the necessity of all 
possible haste in this matter. 

Wishing you success, I am, 

Very respectfully yours, 

FEANK lEISH, T. P. A. 

All plans for the speedy return of the sick soldiers 
were carried out with such exactness that the hospital 
train was enabled to return on the 11th of September 
with all who could be moved. On the evening of 
the 10th of September, Dr. Macdonald, Judge Pierce 
and Dr. Haines went to St. Paul to meet the train, 
which arrived about 11 o’clock. The journey having 
been long and tedious, the patients were too wearied to 
be disturbed, and as some of them were not expected 
to survive until morning, it was thought best for the 
train to remain in St. Paul that night. Dr. Macdonald 
requested Dr. Haines to remain with the train, assist- 
ing the physicians in charge, and he would return to 
Minneapolis to provide comfortable means of transpor- 
tation to the hospitals. Dr. Henry Hutchinson, of St. 
Paul, also remained with the train for the night, and 
rendered Dr. Higbee valuable assistance in detailing 
the men to the hospitals in the two cities and the con- 
valescents to their homes. 


OF MINNESOTA. 


59 


At 9 o’clock in the morning ambulances and car- 
riages for the bojs^ with express wagons for their bag- 
gage, were lined up at the side of the train, and the work 
of removing the soldiers began. At 11 o’clock the 
train pulled out for Minneapolis, with twenty-eight 
men on board, and arrived an hour later in the Union 
station, where Dr. Macdonald, with a corps of willing 
workers and anxious friends were in waiting. Arrange- 
ments for receiving the boys had been made with the 
utmost care, and everything that was possible to min- 
ister to their comfort had been remembered. The best 
of carriages and conveyances had been obtained, ex- 
press wagons were provided with mattresses and fresh, 
soft blankets, nurses in their attractive uniforms stood 
ready to accompany the sick to the hospitals. Such 
thought had been expressed in every detail that the 
boys seemed to feel its influence at once, and they were 
revived for the remainder of their short journey. Dr. 
Macdonald, who had personally superintended all the 
details, did not relax his vigilance until the last patient 
was safely bestowed in his hospital bed. 

At the best it is very difScult to care for a hospital 
train, and the prompt action of Governor Clough in 
providing the means of transportation, the unfailing 
activities of Colonel Hartley, who accompanied the 
train south and back, the wise administration of Dr. 
A. E. Higbee and his assistants, together with the 
thoughtful service of Dr. Macdonald in receiving the 
train at its journey’s end, rendered the expedition en- 
tirely successful. 


60 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


PLENTY OF FEIENDS AND FREQUENT 

BENEFITS. 

The sick in the hospitals were being tended with the 
greatest care, and snch delicacies as grape jnice and 
fruits for the convalescent were for the most part fur- 
nished by members and friends of the Bed Cross move- 
ment. The Indian Medical Spring Water Company 
donated many gallons of spring water for the volunteers 
in the hospitals, as well as for those who were being 
cared for in the homes of friends and for whom the 
society was paying board. A number of the sick had 
enlisted in other states and had come to relatives in 
Minnesota where they were not only ill but penniless. 
The Red Cross was always ready to render assistance. 

About this time the Palace Clothing House came out 
with a statement that it would give two per cent of one 
week’s sales for the Red Cross work This spirit of 
patriotism and co-operation was gratefully acknowl- 
edged. As an attraction for the object the firm had 
windows and store draped with Red Cross flags during 
the entire week. The sum of $180.79 was netted for 
the cause. 

Under the management of the Minneapolis Times, 
Hermann, the magician, gave a benefit entertainment in 
the Bijou Theater. The stage, boxes and foyer were 
decorated with Red Cross and national flags and the 
ushers wore badges. All the soldier boys in the hos- 


OF MINNESOTA. 


61 


pitals who were able to attend were accompanied to the 
theater by nurses. It must be confessed that some of 
them looked better fit for bed than for amnsements, 
but no harm was done. The result was hastened re- 
covery rather than a relapse, for they heartily enjoyed 
the entertainment and it was generally conceded that 
Hermann had been seen at his best. 

This enterprise of the Times netted $468.74, to be 
divided among the sick of the Twelfth Minnesota now 
in the hospitals, many of whom would not be able to 
earn a livelihood during the coming winter, should they 
recover. If those who generously contributed to this 
fund could have seen the faces of those boys when they 
were told that a check for seventeen dollars was waiting 
for each one when he was ready to return to his home, 
there would have been renewed applause for the project. 

Joy, surprise, gratitude and tears met the announce- 
ment, and there was many a fervent ^^God Bless the 
Bed Cross. What would have become of us if it had 
not met our needs.^’ 

The men of the Twelfth Minnesota were ever ready 
to speak of the untiring efforts of their assistant sur- 
geon, Dr. W. F. Caine, of Minneapolis, who ministered 
faithfully to their wants and Avas brother soldier and 
physician as well. 

The tAventy-eight boys of the Twelfth Regiment, who 
came to Minneapolis hospitals, all recovered. About 
six of them Avere not able to be discharged before the 
first of the year, 1899. The physicians and nurses spent 


62 


THE RED ..CROSS SOCIETY 

many days and nights in anxious watching over their 
charges, fearful each morning would bring the sad mes- 
sage that some one had responded to his last roll call, 
but their faithful and tireless care was rewarded by 
the final recovery of the entire twenty-eight. 

A IS^UKSE GOES TO MANILA. 

During this time the society was constantly urging 
upon the war department the need of nurses in Manila. 
The Thirteenth Minnesota Auxiliary, composed of the 
wives, mothers and sisters of the Thirteenth Volunteers, 
was co-operating with the society in this direction. Let- 
ters and petitions to the Minnesota Congressmen and 
Senators were continually going to Washington. Ap- 
plications from our best nurses were in the hands of 
Dr. Anita Newcomb MceGe, Acting Assistant Surgeon 
General, but no order for nurses in Manila. 

The sufferings of the North Dakota soldiers had 
stirred the women of the North Dakota Red Cross, and 
a communication from Mrs. M. A. Hildreth asked the 
Minnesota society for assistance in sending a nurse to 
Manila. The society at once added the request for 
a North Dakota nurse. Without hearing anything en- 
couraging Mrs. Mary House was advised to prepare for 
the trip, and the Red Cross of Minnesota decided to 
send her on the next steamer that sailed from San Fran- 
cisco. North Dakota made ready to send a nurse at the 
same time. 


OF MINNESOTA. 


63 


Mrs. House left San Francisco on the evening of 
Hov. 14, 1898, under the Eed Cross of Minnesota, at a 
salary of $50 per month. She was to meet the North 
Dakota nurse on the coast.. Gov. D. M. Clough fur- 
nished transportation for Mrs. House and the society 
paid her $200 for four months’ salary and the follow- 
ing supplies: One dozen water bags, one-half dozen 

fountain syringes, one dozen clinical thermometers, 
hypodermic syringes, ice bags, sheets, pillow cases, tow- 
els, night shirts, old linen and cotton and her personal 
outfit. 

The following telegram was received November 15th 
from General Sternberg: 

^Hr. Bessie Park Haines, Secretary Red Cross, Min- 
nesota : 

^Hlave Mrs. House report at the Presidio, San Fran- 
cisco, to sail on transport November 18th. 

^^SuuGEON General SteenberG;, 

U. S. A.” 

This dispatch brought great rejoicing, not only to 
the officers of the society, but to the whole country, and 
was another evidence of success as the reward of per- 
severance. A message was sent Mrs. House, and with 
the North Dakota nurse she reported as ordered and 
sailed on the designated transport. 

The Third Infantry was now returning from scenes 
of great suffering and heroic bravery to its own coun- 
try, state and old camping ground at Fort Snelling. 
Colonel Page, the commander, was very ill and it was 
feared he could not recover. Many others were suffer- 


64 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


ing from exposure, want and hard work. Nurses were 
wanted to give their best possible care. The men had 
experienced a terrible conflict and the members of the 
Third Infantry will go down in history as among the 
bravest of American soldiers who saved the day at San- 
tiago. Before the regulars were actually able to return 
to duty, among them the Third Infantry, they were 
ordered to Manila. 

Regarding the relations of the Red Cross to this 
regiment, when the Minnesota society was sending sup- 
plies and comforts to the volunteers, the late Major M. 
C. Wilkinson said to the secretary one day (he was in 

A 

Minneapolis at the time recruiting for the Third In- 
fantry), ^^Why does not the Red Cross think of us poor 
regulars ? Our boys leave for Cuba with nothing but 
tents and canteens, and I assure you we are as faithful 
to our country as men can be.^’ 

The rebuke was merited, for though the hearts of the 
people had been thoroughly enlisted in the cause of the 
volunteers, the regular army certainly had as many 
friends who were near and dear. It had been a grave 
oversight, and no one could have administered reproof 
with more earnestness or better grace than Major Wil- 
kinson. 

From that time the men of the Third Infantry were 
as much an object of care and interest as any, and 
every soldier who left Major Wilkinson’s office for the 
front was furnished with supplies the same as the vob 



MAJOR MELVIN C. V\/ILKiNSON 




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OF MINNESOTA. 


65 


unteers. Twenty towels and forty flannel bands were 
sent out the first day. 

That he was not with his regiment at Santiago was a 
cause of great regret to Major Wilkinson, and those 
who knew him personally are hardly yet reconciled to 
his death at the hands of merciless Indians in the fall 
of 1898, during the battle at Sugar Point, Minn., where 
there was an uprising. It was characteristic of so 
brave a soldier, that as his comrades lifted him to a 
place of shelter, his last words were, ^^DonT mind me, 
boys ; give the devils hell.’’ 

When the order came for the Third Infantry to start 
for Manila, the Eed Cross hastened to furnish the regu- 
lars with needed supplies. How to ascertain what Avould 
be most useful and acceptable was a question the society 
did not feel competent to decide. Mr. William Eegan 
communicated with Colonel Page regarding a library, 
as an abundance of food for the sick and other hospital 
supplies w’-ere being shipped from all parts of the Union. 

A prompt reply from Colonel Page assured the so- 
ciety that the thought of the library was not a mistake, 
and President J. W. Macdonald advised a call through 
the city newspapers for contributions and gifts of bound 
volumes and late magazines to send with the Third 
Infantry to Manila, and as a nucleus for a permanent 
library for the American Army on the island. The 
society also voted to expend seventy-five dollars for the 
purchase of new books, Mr. William Eegan and Dr. 
Bessie Park Haines to make the selection. 


66 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


To this request as all others the people responded 
liberally and promptly, and books and magazines began 
to pour in Mr. Eegan’s storeroom in great numbers. 
The task of selecting literature for men of all tastes 
and classes was not easy, but Mr. Kegan^s extended 
experience rendered the work less difficult and he was 
an invaluable member of the committee. 

The magazines were packed in boxes by themselves 
with instructions that they be unpacked and circulated 
as soon as the transport was at sea that the voyage might 
pass less tediously and with more profit. It was ar- 
ranged that should the Thirteenth Eegiment desire, the 
same magazines were to be turned over for a similar 
use when it returned. 

Soon after the departure of the Third Infantry for 
Manila, Miss Anna Segram and Miss Cochran, nurses 
who had been at Fort Snelling caring for the sick, was 
ordered to report at the Presidio, San Francisco, and 
were probably in Manila as soon as the regulars. When 
the regiment left no such thought had been expressed, 
and it was not only a surprise, but a great joy to the 
nurses to receive the orders. 

A volume might be filled in telling of the love be- 
trayed by the soldier for the army nurse and his con- 
fidence in the Eed Cross button. One case will suffice 
to give an idea of the soldier’s appreciation of the Eed 
Cross. 

A poor fellow whose life was slowly ebbing away in 
one of the Southern hospitals was restless and required 


OF MINNESOTA. 


67 


sleep. The nurse was using every effort to induce the 
much needed rest, when he looked up and saw the Ked 
Cross button on her dress front. He asked if it might 
be pinned to his night shirt, and when she gladly trans- 
ferred the button, his face lighted with a smile. Plac- 
ing his hand over the little badge, as if to hold it secure, 
he passed into a peaceful slumber from which he never 
wakened. 

Similar incidents occurred in the city hospital. The 
soldiers all wanted a Ked Cross button pinned to their 
shirts, and if in changing it became lost, they would 
mourn as much as if it had been a precious stone. Many 
times Dr. Haines took off her own button to replace 
one that had been lost. 

Such scenes, pathetic though they were, gladdened 
the hearts of those who came in contact with the soldiers 
and awakened new appreciation of the work of the Red 
Cross where it had not only relieved suffering but had 
established the fact that a great movement lay behind 
the soldier and his cause, against which even military 
discipline could not prevail. 

ANOTHER CALL TO DUTY. 

It now seemed as if a period of rest was at hand and 
as if the Red Cross Society could enjoy respite from 
the arduous duties that had pressed upon it for many 
months. In that calm occurred the terrible cyclone dis- 
aster at New Richmond, Wis., and the Red Cross was 
again called to the front. 


68 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


Towards evening on June 9, 1899, in hardly more 
than a second of time, a prosperous town was swept to 
ruins, and its people were crushed beneath an awful 
calamity. As soon as the news reached the Ked Cross 
in Minneapolis, Dr. Haines was authorized to hasten 
to New Richmond and do all that presented itself to 
relieve the distress and suffering. 

Accompanied by Dr. R. D. Matchin, Dr. F. R. 
Wright, Dr. N. M. King and Dr. Glen Matchin, she 
visited the scene of the disaster. Upon their arrival 
the physicians found that Noyes Bros. & Cutler of SL 
Paul had forwarded surgical supplies, and that the 
wounded were being conveyed to St. Paul on every train. 
As there remained practically nothing for the surgeons 
to do they returned to Minneapolis the next morning. 
As the needs of those who had been left desolate, with- 
out homes and destitute, had to be immediately sup- 
plied, Dr. Haines returned to New Richmond the same 
day with barrels of bedding, clothing and other neces- 
saries. 

Red Cross quarters were established, the flag of the 
society was raised and Mrs. C. D. Smith of Minneapo- 
lis placed in charge. Clothing and bedding were dis- 
tributed, and when it was found on investigation that 
surgical instruments, bandages and dressing for wounds 
were wanted in the temporary hospital, the society fur- 
nished the supplies as rapidly as possible. Four nurses 
were ordered from Minneapolis and the workers con- 
tinued active as long as their presence and aid were 
desired. 


OF MINNESOTA. 


69 


The call to New Richmond was the last made upon 
the Red Cross up to the present time, May, 1900, hut 
like a sentinel in the night the society is ever on duty 
and alert to succor in the hour of distress. 

In her endeavor to give a complete report from all 
branches of the state society. Dr Haines has been obliged 
to depend upon the local officers for a detailed account 
of the work in their respective localities. While many 
reports came promptly, there are others that she greatly 
desired to embody in this book, which have not been 
submitted and are therefore omitted with regret. 

Princeton did a great deal to aid her volunteers and 
sent them an abundance of supplies and money. North- 
field contributed generously to the cause, distributing 
its gifts through the St. Paul society. Branch societies 
in different parts of Minneapolis worked actively for 
the Fifteenth Regiment while it was at Camp Ramsey. 
Dr. T. S. North organized a branch in the southern 
section of the city, and there were two flourishing 
branches on the northeast and southeast sides. 

This little book may not at the present time meet the 
welcome so enthusiastically promised for it when the 
Red Cross first began to rest from its labors, but in 
the future of the State of Minnesota, when the heroes 
of to-day by whose valiant deeds its existence was made 
possible, relate the incidents of the Spanish-American 
war, the work of the Red Cross Society in their behalf 
will be of deep interest to those who learn its history 
from the lips of our volunteers. 


70 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


THE RED CROSS. 

They, too, hare heard the drum beat. 

They follow the bugle’s call, 

These who are swift with pity 
On the field where brave men fall. 

When the battle-boom is silent, 

And the echoing thunder dies. 

They haste to the plain red-sodden 
With the blood of sacrifice. 

The flag that floats above them 
Is marked with a crimson sign. 

Pledge of a great compassion 
And the rifted heart divine. 

That once for man’s redemption 
Knew earth’s completest loss. 

These to the field of valor 
Bring love’s immortal cross. 

And so they follow the bugle. 

And heed the drum-beat’s call. 

But their errand is one of pity — 

They succor the men who fall. 

This poem, which first appeared in Harper’s Bazar, 
was recognized by Mrs. Addison Porter as most ap- 
propriately applying to the movement in which she was 
greatly interested, and she had thousands of copies 
' printed for distribution among the workers throughout 
the country. Through Dr. Haines’ visit in Washing- 
ton, Mrs. Porter became interested in the Minnesota 
Red Cross Society and presented one thousand copies 
of the poems for circulation through the state. 


MRS. ADDISON PORTER, WASHINGTON D C 





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REPORTS 


OF 

Auxiliaries and Branch Red Cross Societies 


ABEEDEEN. 

The Aberdeen Red Cross Society was organized in 
* October, 1898, by Mrs. A. S. Gleason, a resident of 
Aberdeen, and a member of the Minneapolis Red Cross 
Society. The first work of the society was directed 
toward collecting material and aiding in the prepara- 
tion of the Christmas boxes sent to Company F, First 
Regiment South Dakota Volunteers, Philippine Isl- 
ands. 

Afterwards the society, by enrollment fees, contri- 
butions, entertainments, etc., raised a fund for relief 
and hospital purposes and sent the same to the proper 
officers of the South Dakota regiment. The amount 
forwarded was three hundred and fifty dollars ($350). 
The organization at the present time is in a fiourishing 
condition, numbering about one hundred members, and 
the work of aiding needy soldiers, who have returned 
from the field of battle, is still being done. The soci- 


72 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


ety has not affiliated with the national organization, 
hilt has confined its efforts to the volunteers from South 
Dakota. 

Many are the words of praise that have been spoken 
by the returned soldiers for the timely aid in hospital 
and on the firing line from the efforts of the Aberdeen 
Red Cross Society. 

MRS. R. S. GLEASOK 
ADRIAA^. 

A society calling itself ^^Sisters of the Soldiers’’ 
(composed of young girls), sent $25 in money to Com- 
pany H, Fifteenth Minnesota, and a box of provisions, 
at the same time. We ladies sent a box of clothing to 
the Red Cross of Minneapolis, containing 18 sheets, 
24 pillow cases, 14 night shirts, about 20 towels and 
quantities of cotton and linen clothes. 

We sent twentv-six Christmas boxes to the soldiers at 

c/ 

Camp Augusta, these boxes containing clothing and 
everything we felt a soldier would need. 

Sincerely yours, 

CLARA B., 
Adrian, Minn. 

ALEXAIN^DRIA. 

W. E. Chidester brought a G. A. R. box of supplies 
from Alexandria consisting of jellies, etc., for the Fif- 
teenth and other supplies for the society. It v/as his 
last work for his country, as he died a few days after 
returning home. 


OF MINNESOTA. 


73 


ANOKA. 

The local Ked Cross Society of Anoka was organized 
in Jnne^ 1898, with officers as follows: 

President — Mrs. J. O. Wyman. 

Secretary — Mrs. A. P. Greenwald. 

Treasurer — Mrs. W. P. Macomber. 

Headquarters were opened in the McLaughlin block, 
where many new members were added daily. This so- 
ciety worked largely in the interests of Company B of 
the Fourteenth Eegiment which was organized in 
Anoka, desiring that camp life should be as comfort- 
able as the loved ones at home could make it. Boxes 
containing everything conducive to comfort were fre- 
quently shipped to the different members of this com- 
pany, also letters containing checks for company fund, 
whereby all ijecessities might be purchased. 

When the Fourteenth Eegiment was mustered out 
and Company B returned home, it was deemed advis- 
able to open a hospital where the sick could receive 
proper care. This society secured a house, fitted it up 
in hospital style, and twenty-seven boys of Company 
B were received and cared for by the Eed Cross So- 
ciety, ably assisted by Dr. Frank of Anoka, who gave 
his services until every man had recovered. Nurses 
were furnished them from the state society. 

This society had the largest membership of any local 
society in the state; one hundred and thirty paid mem- 
bers. 


^ ASHBY. 


A. D. Denney sent eight dollars membership fees. 


74 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


BKOWNTOTO. 

Aug. 29, 1898, paid for thirty yards outing flan- 


nel for soldiers’ night shirts $30.00 

Sept. 5, 1898, sent statq secretary 22.00 

Nov. 15, 1898, paid for nurse 

Services for sick woman in Browntown 10.50 


Total $62.50 

Balance on hand $4.37 

Entire sum collected 66.87 


By order of Secretary Browntown Red Cross, 

MRS. H. BUCK 


CANNON BALLS. 

The W. R. C. sent to a Southern camp a box of sup- 
plies valued at $15 and $12 in cash. This was ac- 
counted work of the W. R. C. I sent $5 to the Outlook 
Company towards the steam launch which was fitted 
up for the Red Cross. 

M. M. BARLOW. 


EXCELSIOR. 

I 

The minutes of the Red Cross Society of Excelsior 
show the following articles to have been contributed. 


OP MINNESOTA. 


75 


Eight dollars was sent to a soldier suffering from 
wounds in a hospital. 


Cash received, possibly $25.00 

Grape juice, gallons. 5 

Pajamas made, pairs ' 12 

Old linen, pounds 20 

Handkerchiefs 300 

Towels ; 200 

Pillows 25 

Heedle cases 18 

Abdominal bandages 12 

Sleeping caps 10 


Respectfully submitted, 

JULIA B. PERKIlSrS, Secretary. 

MRS. NELLIE McGRATH, Vice President. 


GLENCOE. 

The Glencoe Auxiliary of the Red Cross was or- 
ganized June 2, 1898. President, Mrs. J. H. Rouse j 
vice president, Mrs. H. Wadsworth; second vice presi- 
dent, Mrs. L. W. Lester; secretary, Mrs. F. R. Allen;' 
treasurer, Mrs. H. L. Simmons. 

A press committee, a committee to provide sewing 
room, a committee to make badges, a committee to so- 
licit from citizens, and six directresses of work were 
appointed. 

A membership fee of twenty-five cents was established 
and a roll of membership taken. From June 2 to July 
19 inclusive, eight meetings had been held; membership 


76 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


roll showed forty-three names had paid dues, and sup- 
pers sold to the amount of fifty dollars ($50), and had 
packed and shipped to Chickamauga a barrel contain- 
ing the following articles : 

Seven old sheets, 22 pillow cases, 4 drinking cups, 
2 pounds breakfast food, 14 night shirts, 12 bottles 
malted milk, 1 bottle Jamaica ginger, 1 bottle wine, 1 
bottle brandy, 3 cans jelly, 1 bottle grape juice, 12 new 
sheets, 22 abdominal bandages, 1 1-2 pounds chocolate, 
1 box cocoa, 20 dozen muslin bandages, 2 bottles beef 
extract, 1-2 dozen teaspoons, 50 yards cheese cloth, 37 
housewives (for needles, pins), 3 cans jam, 1 can con- 
densed milk, bundles of old linen and cotton, books and 
magazines. 

We also sent to ^^our boys’’ of the Fourteenth $10, 
$2.50 a piece. Wrote letters, etc., to these same boys. 

In September we began to inquire into the necessary 
procedure to connect ourselves with the State Red 
Cross Society, and in October sent $32 for membership 
in state society. In February we received our state 
badges. 

Since last February we have had seven meetings. At 
the ISTovember meeting a committee to draft resolutions 
to guide our actions somewhat and to take the place of 
a constitution, was appointed. These resolutions were 
submitted and adopted in February and state the ob- 
ject of the society to be, ^The carrying out of sugges- 
tions, offered by the state society and to further any 
worthy local object it may decide to aid, and to promote 
sociability among its members.” 

These also recommended monthly dues of five cents 
per member, and the appointment of a committee quar- 
terly to provide some means of entertainment for each 
monthly meeting. 


OF MINNESOTA. 


77 


In July the society held a sale of ice cream and cake, 
from which $29 was realized. This, with $3 more, 
was forwarded to secretary to be used in alleviating the 
sufferings from the ISTew Eichmond cyclone. October 
14th, we gave a reception in the Opera House to our 
Manila boys — members of the Thirteenth Minnesota — • 
Henry Miles, Joseph Gross and Arthur Crosby. A 
well-arranged program was given, in which the prin- 
cipal of the school and other prominent citizens, mem- 
bers of the G. A. E., the soldiers themselves, and high 
school pupils in a song, took part. There were on the 
platform, besides the boys. Dr. Dorsey, surgeon of the 
Fourteenth, one other member of the Fourteenth, and 
a member of the cavalry U. S. A. — all of our town. 

We have recently undertaken to help the poor whom 
we know need our help, and to look after some of the 
young foreign girls who are growing up without any 
knowledge of work. 

We usually take needle work to our meetings. 

Have recently added one new name to our list ; have 
the promise of another. 

Our annual elections are in October. The treasurer 
reported amount of money received for the year 
1898-99 (October to October) $36.75; amount expend- 
ed, $35.05. 

Officers for 1899-1900 are: 

President — Mrs. H. Wadsworth. 

First Vice President — Mrs. L. W. Lester. 

Second Vice President — Mrs. T. M. Paine. 

Secretary — Mrs. F. E. Allen. 

Treasurer — Mrs. H. L. Simmons. 

One member died last year and three moved away. 


78 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


We have added two new members, making ns now a 
membership of thirty-one. 

MRS. F. R. ALLEN, Secretary. 

Glencoe, Minn. 


GRAND RAPIDS. 


Memberships $10.00 

For abdominal bandages 2.50 

Total $12.50 


MRS. MARY E. SMITH. 


HUTCHINSON. 

First meeting held July 9, 1898. Mrs. Kee Wake- 
field, Vice President. 

July 30th sent $27 for memberships. 

August 1, 1898, gave a home musicale — all military, 
with Uncle Sam and Columbia, represented by the 
tallest man and woman in town. Receipts, $30. 


Total to society memberships $32.00 

Contribution , 30.00 

Total $62.00 


MRS. KEE WAKEFIELD, 

Vice President. 


OF MINNESOTA. 


79 


KILKENNY. 

Fund collected in Kilkenny for the Ked Cross by 
Mrs. B. M. Culhane, July, 1898: 


Eev. Hugh McVey 

$1.00 

James Gildea 

. . 1.00 

Joseph Schulte 

1.00 

John Greer 

1.00 

Wm. Rowland 

1.00 

Mrs. B. M. Culhane 

1.25 

Frank Judge 

50 

Thomas McDermott ‘ 

50 

Mary Byrne 

50 

Mrs. Will Seamans 

.50 

\ 

Mrs. N. 'Nightingale 

25 

C. D. Cotey 

25 

Mr. Pesinger 

15 

Names forgotten 

1.10 


Total $10.00 


LAKE CITY. 

From Lake City Circle 'No, 31^ Ladies of the G, A, B,, 

Department of Minnesota, 

A box Containing the following was sent: 

Seven quilts, 35 new sheets, 36 pillow slips, 3 boxes 
soap, 1 brush, 5 quarts canned fruit, dried beef, 3 cans 
malted milk, 1 can milk powder, 180 cotton bandages, 
1 tablecloth, 60 new pillow slips, 6 night shirts, 1 box 
pocket combs, 13 glasses of jelly, 10 towels, 32 sheets. 


80 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


5 pair hose, 2 large combs, 25 pounds dried peaches, 25 
pounds apricots, linen, flannel, lint, and books and 
magazines. 

MKS. MAKY E. MATHEWS, 

President. 


Minneapolis, Minn., July 20, 1898. 
James 0. Pierce, Esq., Treasurer, City. 

Dear Sir : It affords me great pleasure to hand you 

enclosed check for five dollars for the benefit of Ked 
Cross Society. 

This amount represents one-half the proceeds from 
sales of flag pins. 

Yours respectfully, 

LOUIS J. WILK & CO. 


LITCHFIELD. 


The Led Cross Society of Litchfield sent $60 to the 
surgeons of the Twelfth and Fourteenth Minnesota 
Regiments for their sick soldiers. It fitted out the 
home company of the Fifteenth Regiment when leav- 
ing with a bed, pillow tick, and housewife for every 
man; also a parting banquet. 

While in camp 100 flannel abdominal bands were 
sent and a Christmas box to the boys that had not al- 
ready been provided for. 

NELLIE L. DICKSON, 

President. 


OF MINNESOTA. 


81 


PELICAN EAPIDS. 

Our society was organized July 17, 1898, with sev- 
enteen members. 

We sent a package of pajamas to the surgeon of the 
Fourteenth Minnesota, also $18 to the same to he used 
where most needed in the Fourteenth Regiment. 

We also sent a box to the society in Minneapolis, 
containing 6 sheets, 9 pillow cases, 26 towels, 5 shirts, 
5 pair hose, 2 packages of malted milk tablets and 7 
jellies. 

MES. GLADYS 0. WILSON, 

Secretary, 


PLAINVIEW. 

June 3, 1898, Eev. Mr. Fisher came over from Roch- 
ester and organized an auxiliary society here. 

Many responded to the call and work was immediate- 
ly begun. Many dozens of sheets, pillow-slips, night 
shirts, towels, socks, woolen and cotton bandages and 
everything necessary for the comfort of our boys, also 
jellies, fruits, juices, corn starch, farina and various 
foods for the sick w^ere sent to Rochester and then for- 
warded by that society to the Fourteenth Minnesota at 
Camp Thomas. 

June 20th, $10.00 was sent to Mrs. Ed Piersons, one 
of the officer’s wives, to be given to the hospital — 'which 
was given to Dr. Cole, surgeon of the Fourteenth. 

July 28th, $10.00 more was sent for the same pur- 
pose. Dr. Cole sent us receipts for same and many 
thanks for what we had done. 


82 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


About August 1st, $25.00 was sent to F. D. Tappan, 
treasurer of the National K. S. C., at New York, to be 
used for sick and wounded at Montauk Point. 

Then about September 1st, $25.00 was sent you, 
$14.00 for membership fees to our state society, the 
remaining $11.00 donated to your society for use in 
your work. 

Our officers at that time were: President, Mrs. J. 

H. O’Connell; secretary, Mrs. Neil McOlernan, treas^ 
urer, Mrs. A. Davey. 

Thanking you for appreciating our efforts in this 
work, I remain, 

Sincerely yours, 

MKS. J. H. O’CONNELL, 

Plainview, Minn. 


Pupils of the Manning School of oratory. 

Dr. Macdonald — Dear Sir : We hand you herewith 

amount of proceeds over and above expenses of the Red 
Cross entertainment — $5. We are sorry it is no more. 
Wishing you success, we are, your truly, 

JAY NELSON, 

C. D. GILBERT, 
Oommittee. 


OF MINNESOTA. 


83 


EED WmG. 

Your kind favor of April 3d received, and will do 
the best I can to give you a report of the work done 
here during the time we were at work for Red Cross 
Society. 

A call was made through the Red Wing Daily, June 
11, 1898, for the ladies of Red Wing, who were inter- 
ested in organizing a society for the relief of those who 
had enlisted to serve during the Cuban war. The fol- 
lowing officers were elected: President, Mrs. Dwight 

M. Baldwin; vice president, Mrs. Albert Jones; secre- 
tary, Miss Minnie Seebach; treasurer, Mrs. Etta Bas- 
sett. A society called the Red Cross Aid Society or- 
ganized, with about sixty members. 

June 20, a nice box was sent to San Erancisco for 
the Thirteenth Regiment, value, $50.00; July 1, box 
sent to Twelfth Minnesota Regiment, value, $30.00; 
July 4, box sent to the Fourteenth Minnesota Regi- 
ment, value, $30.00 ; July 15, box sent to Manila, Thir- 
teenth Minnesota Regiment, value, $75.00; August 12, 
sent to St. Paul Red Cross Society, box, value, $10.00; 
October 3, donated to the Christmas box sent to the 
Thirteeenth in Manila, 108 towels, 89 abdominal ban- 
dages, and $9.00 in cash; October 14, sent 26 pieces 
mosquito netting to Thirteenth; November 20, fur- 
nished four nice Thanksgiving dinners to soldiers’ 
families; at funeral of mother of a member of Thir- 
teenth sent flowers, $1.00. 

There was $11.00 in the treasurer’s hands at the 
time the committee was making arrangements to re- 
ceive the boys of Co. G, which we turned over to their 
fund. The ladies in Red Wing are always ready to re- 


84 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


spend to a call for help, and mneh credit is due many 
of them for the help given at this time. 

CLAKA BALDWIN. 


KOCHESTER. 

Bed Cross Society of Rochester was organized May 
24, 1898. Amount of money raised by the society, 
$223.60. Of this, to Surgeon A. B. Cole, Chickamauga, 
was sent $110.00 in cash; $50.00 was spent on ship- 
ping boxes to the same person. Four boxes and four 
bales of clothing and provisions were sent. 

One bale was sent by outside towns. One box of 


books was also sent. 

Women of Elgin gave ,$22.75 

St. Peter’s church, Kasson 2.30 

Pleasant .Valley S. S . 2.01 

Express of outside towns 6.80 


We gave $5 toward sending an invalid soldier to 
wanner climate for this winter. Also gave $15 in 
furniture to the Mayette family, who lost their home 
by fire. 

There was money used for buying materials, and we 
still have some in the bank. 

Yours sincerely, 

MRS. C. GRAHAM. 


SHAKOPEE. 

The Soldiers’ Aid Society of Shakopee sent the fol- 
lowing supplies directly to E. C. Clemans, chaplain of 
the Twelfth Regiment : 


OF MINNESOTA. 


85 


Forty-six wool bandages, 34 night caps, 7 gingham 
bedticks, 1 pillow slip, 14 night shirts, 50 yards wadded 
bandages, 1 sheet, 13 rolled bandages, 1 box iodoform 
gauze, old linen and soft cotton, $44.80 in cash. 

To the State Eed Cross Society: Five bottles grape 

juice, 2 bottles of blackberry juice, 1 bottle of rasp- 
berry shrub, 5 bottles of wine, 1 can blackberries, 1 can 
currant jelly. 

MKS H. P. FISCHEK. 


STILLWATEE. 

Stillwater, Minn., Jan. 21, 1900. 

Stillwater did not organize a Red Cross Society, but 
sent $7 as membership fees to the society in Minne- 
apolis. Our W. R. C., of which I was president at 
the time, sent supplies and money. 

Very truly yours, 

ADDIE B. VAIL. 


ST. PAUL RED CROSS. 

Many pages would be given to the work of the St. 
Paul Red Cross, but it was not possible to secure a 
full report of its efficient work. This society was or- 
ganized in May, 1898, with headquarters on Sixth, be- 
tween Robert and Minnesota streets. In the sewing 
room willing workers daily assembled to make and re- 
ceive the many needed supplies for which the demands 
of war called. 


86 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


By means of contributions and entertainments, 
money in abundance poured in their treasury. Boxes 
of materials were sent from different towns in the state. 
Supplies and much needed money found their way to 
the different regiments in camp. The hospital flags 
of the Thirteenth Regiment were presented by this so- 
ciety, also the Fifteenth Regiment, their regimental 
flag. Mrs. J. J. Hill made the presentation, which 
Avas received by the soldiers Avith great enthusiasm and 
appreciation. 

At the return of the soldiers near the close of the 
Avar a Red Cross nurse was daily seen at the Mihvaukee 
depot eagerly Avatching every train for a sick or needy 
soldier, ready to render any service he might require. 
These Avomen received many a blessing from the home- 
sick and camp-sick boys. 

When the news of the cyclone’s destruction at Hcav 
R ichmond reached St. Paul, a delegation of men and 
AA'Omen from this society, under the leadership of A. S. 
Talmage and Mrs. J. B. Hoxsie, took the first train 
to the stricken city. 

The AA^omen at once established themseRes in the 
headquarters’ dining room, and day and night served 
sandAviches and coffee to the multitudes that constantly 
thronged there, the proceeds going to the Citizens’ Aid 
Committee. Their untiring zeal in this Avork Avas 
worthy the highest commendation. 

Many a discouraged soldier has realized the brother- 
ly aid of the St. Paul Red Cross Society. 

The society Avas officered : 

President — A. S. Talmage. 

Secretary — Mrs. A. P. Moss. 

Corresponding Secretary — Dr. Janette McLaren. 

Treasurer — Mrs. Shurick. 


OF MINNESOTA. 


87 


ST. PETER 

» 

The citizens of St. Peter contributed $370.00 to the 
treasurer of the National Red Cross Society, Mr. Tap- 
pan, New York. 

The Sorosis Society sent thirty-five bandages and 
eight towels. 

Sabbath school class in the Presbyterian Sunday 
school, $25.00; 

The ladies of the G. A. R. to the Minnesota Red 
Cross, $20.00 worth of clothing, bandages, pajamas and 
towels. 

The women of the Swedish Lutheran Society $45.00 
in cash, $25.00 worth of clothing. 

Quantities of books and pamphlets were sent by 
different parties. 

Rebecca Society sent sheets and pillow cases 

MRS. G. S. IVES. 


WAYZATA. 

My Dear Dr. Haines: You will please find enclosed 

a check for $3.50, the children’s contribution to the 
Red Cross Society. 

Sincerely yours, 

LEILA T. NORTHRUP. 
(Mrs. W. G. Northrup.) 
Wayzata, July 13, 1899. 


88 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


CONTRIBUTIONS. 

North Dakota Millers’ Association. . .$ 7.25 


American Telegraph Co ■ 11.25 

St. Anthony Elevator Co 11.25 

E. S. Woodworth & Co 17.25 

E. I. Burt Co 3.50 

Regan Bros 26.95 

Chas. E. Lewis Co 14.00 


Citizens of Grantsburg, through bank. 10.00 

These gifts were in response to the following appeal 
issued by the Red Cross Society of Minnesota : 

^^To Our Employees: 

^^Ladies and Gentlemen: We have received fronS 

the Red Cross Society an appeal which reads as fol- 
lows : 

^^To the Millers, Manufacturers and Professional Men 

of Minneapolis and their Employees. 

^ ^Gentlemen : Mingling with the glorious news from 

the seat of war came the sad echoes of suffering from 
those who offer their life blood for the honor of our 
country in the interest of humanity. Is it not incum- 
bent on us who are fated to stay at home to contribute 
our mite so that the suffering of our heroes who are in 
the thickest of the conflict be reduced to the minimum ? 

^^The best and most powerful aid w^e can render is to 
provide the necessary funds for that purpose and in 
the name of patriotism and humanity we appeal to 
you to send us your personal contribution and ask you 
to circulate the enclosed subscription list among your 
employees, for we feel that they will be as ready to 
contribute their quota, in proportion to their ability, 


OF MINNESOTA. 


89 


as willingly and freely as their representatives in the 
field have beeen ready to sacrifice their lives. 

^^Onr society will see that the funds thus raised will 
accomplish the greatest good at the smallest expense. 

^^Do not deny yourself this privilege to he co-workers 
in the cause which must appeal to the best instincts of 
humanity. 

^^Do not disappoint us, as we are counting on your 
aid, and kindly return enclosed subscription list, after 
circulation, as early as convenient with as large a total 
as possible, to the treasurer of our society. Judge J. O. 
Pierce, 616 ISTew York Life Building. 

^^WM. M. KEGAY, 

^T. J. KEYYEDY, 

^GSAAC KAUEEMAN, 

^AIKS. EKED C. PILLSBUKY, 

^^MKS. STEPHEN B. LOVEJOY, 

Finance Committee, 

^^We will be glad to have our employees unite with 
us in making as generous a response as possible.’’ 

LETTER OF ACKYOWLEDGMEYT. 

Camp Ramsey, St. Paul, Minn., Aug. 11, 1898. 

In behalf of our men I extend to you and the so- 
ciety which you represent, a heartfelt gratitude for the 
interest and devoted love you have for our welfare. 
God will surely bless you in your efforts. My cares 
are much lightened by the assurance you give of an 
alliance with your society. 

Faithfully yours, 

C. W. FRY, 

Asst. Surgeon, 
Fifteenth Minn. Vol. Inf. 


LETTERS FROM NURSES IN THE FIELD. 


The American Red Cross Headquarters, 

301 G St., N. W., 

Washington, D. C., Aug. 15, 1898. 
Dr. Bessie Park Haines, Secretary Red Cross Society 
of Minnesota, 512 Masonic Temple, Minneapolis, 
Minn. 

My Dear Mrs. Haines: I was very glad to receive 

your kind letter of the 11th inst. and to know you had 
reached home in safety. 

Mr. Cobh arrived in Washington the afternoon you 
left, in company with a member of the Signal Corps 
Balloon service, who had been shot by the Spaniards 
while doing balloon picket duty. Mr. Cobb found him 
on the wharf, where he had been left by the overcrowding 
of the vessel, and brought him with him to Washington. 
He took him to the hotel and procured a change of cloth- 
ing. The hotel porter gave him a bath and the next 
morning put him on the train for Annapolis, where his 
mother was waiting for him. This is only one of the 
incidents of war. 

Mr. Cobb asked the Secretary of War if we could 
establish a diet kitchen around Washington, and he re- 
plied that he would sign an order that would ^^go’^ with 
his subordinates. We received this order yesterday 
and shall have a model diet kitchen in a few days at 
the Washington barracks, in charge of Mrs. Willard 
of the Red Cross Auxiliary from Hew York, who is 
an expert in dietary. 


OF MINNESOTA. 


91 


Since you left four hundred sick and convalescent 
soldiers have come to the arsenal. They are coming 
and going every day. From each lot some are left sick 
with typhoid, while others gladly hobble away on their 
canes and crutches. 

I wish you might hear the boys talk of their first 
days at Santiago. The wounded men are doing well. 

Major Adair, the surgeon in charge, says ^That hav- 
ing the bandages at hand saved the lives of many in- 
jured men.’’ Many of the boys tell us the same. 

Over at Dun Loring, Va., are the sick of the First 
and Second Division Hospital of the Second Corps, 
numbering now about four hundred, whom we saw, you 
will remember, at Camp Alger. The well men of the 
Second Corps are all under orders for 'Middleton, Pa., 
and are to go by rail. The First Division of the Sec- 
ond Corps was ordered to march to Thoroughfare, Va., 
about fifty miles from here. On the march over one 
hundred men were taken with typhoid fever, and an- 
other hospital has been established at Brostow, Va., 
thirty miles from here, giving us another point to look 
after. 

The men at Fort Meyers have reached the serious 
stage of the fever and have not a sufficient number of 
nurses. They allow us to send them many supplies, 
that the surgeons call luxuries, but we think neces- 
sities. Think of trying to nurse forty patients with 
one hot water bottle, and the nurses having no food 
from the time the dining room closes in the afternoon 
until the next morning. 

At the barracks we are furnishing five hundred 
pounds of ice a day, twenty gallons of milk and twenty 
pounds of butter. This is in addition to what is fur- 
nished by the government. At this latter point they 
have twenty sick of t3^phoid, and Mrs. Hull was the first 


92 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


to visit them a week ago. We have supplied them also 
with cots, mattresses, pillows, pajamas, bedding, medi- 
cines and cordials. 

I wish you could hear the boys from Santiago and 
Fernandina and Tampa and Jacksonville and Fort 
McPherson and Chickamauga talk about the Red 
Cross. Those men who come up in the transports with 
the Red Cross nurses, many of them managed to get 
some souvenir to keep for life. One of them showed 
me a little Red Cross that Miss Rudy had -given him. 
She is the chief of the Red Cross nurses whom Gen. 
Greenleaf so highly commended. 

We work night and day. Mrs. Tanner has the 
emergency work in hand, looking out for the sick who 
are passing from the south to Point Montauk. She 
has two rooms down by the railroad and serves coffee, 
milk, lemonade and more substantial articles of diet. 

They all send their love to you and their cordial 
greeting. We must indeed keep in touch with each 
other. Let me hear from vou whenever you can write. 

ELLE^T SPEls^CER MUSSEY. 


Sternberg, IT. S. Field Hospital, 
Chickamauga Park, Sept. 9, 1898. 

Your ever-welcome letter was received and you can- 
not realize how glad we are to hear from you or any 
other of the Red Cross members. We are working very 
hard, a number of the nurses have already left, and 
many more will leave when their month is up. 

Our Minnesota boys of the Fourteenth Regiment left 
yesterday for Minnesota, but I understand there are more 
sick ones coming in. We expect about one hundred 


OF MINNESOTA. 


93 


and fifty patients to-morrow, mostly malaria fever cases, 
in fact most of the sickness is malaria. The patients 
are getting the best of care since they have been removed 
from the divisions or regimental hospital. Our ac- 
commodations are excellent and the food is good. The 
boxes and trunks that were sent have arrived and we 
were glad to get them. 

Doctor, we ought to have some fever thermometers. 
If possible, kindly send the latter to me here. 

One of the Minnesota regulars has been quite ill, 
but is improving now. 

It is time for me to go on duty now, and will close 
for this time. We all send our love to all. 

ALICE GKACE WELCH. 


Camp Cuba Libra, Sept. 25, 1898. 

They tell me that we are to be sent to Cuba the 10th 
day of October. We have about 250 or 300 sick men in 
this division and the best hospital in the whole Seventh 
Army Corps. 

Well, doctor, I have given all those pins away, and 
they are asking me every time they get a chance for 
more. I wish if you could you would please send me 
some more. I am in the convalescent ward now and 
am trying to write while on duty, and the boys are 
bothering me so that I can hardly write. A large num- 
ber of them will be sent home in a few days and they 
are having a regular jubilee, so I will close. 

L. GEETKHDE SPEHCEE, 

First Division Hospital. 

^Tairfield,’’ Jacksonville, Ela. 


94 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


Knoxville^ Term., Camp Poland, Oct. 6, 1898. 

I was put on special work the first week I was here. 
My special case was a young lad of eighteen. Every- 
thing was done for him that could be done, and for a 
time we thought the danger was over and took courage, 
but twenty-four hours before death, paralysis set in. 
His poor mother was here the last week. It was very 
hard to lose him. The work is carried on in as sanitary 
a way as possible for a camp hospital of a few months’ 
standing. The major takes a great personal interest 
in the work and the patients. Improvements are add- 
ed every day as the wherewithal reaches us. The 
physicians are attentive and the nurses all interested in 
the work. The sickest patients have mattresses on the 
cots. We have not, and our quarters are rather prim- 
itive. Tents and wards are going up every day, though 
we have no idea how long we may stay. 

There is no Ked Cross Society here and I regret it 
very much. Its sympathies are large enough to en- 
fold not only the soldiers, but the nurses, too. I hope 
the boys at home are doing well. 

A. G. YOHHG. 


Second Division Hospital, Seventh Army Corps, 

Jacksonville, Ela., Oct. 19, 189^ 

I am sitting by a fire in front of my tent, or rather 
between four tents. My companions are three women 
nurses and the orderlies of the tents. It is 1 a. m. 
The women nurses have lunch at 12 o’clock in the diet 
kitchen. 

At present there are about 125 nurses here, some 


OF MINNESOTA. 


95 


are to be mustered out November Ist^ some to go to 
Cuba and others to remain in service here. Ten nurses 
were sent here by a wealthy Philadelphia gentleman 
two months ago. They received honorable discharges 
to-day and go home to-morrow. 

Of twelve male nurses who came here from New 
Jersey only two are able for duty. Some are seriously 
ill. 

The Porty-ninth Iowa has lost more men than any 
other regiment here, it having lost fifty men. A Wis- 
consin is next, losing thirty-five. Of one company of 
the Porty-ninth Iowa only seven are well. I have two 
of them in my ward. One was almost despaired of, 
but he is now showing slight improvement. Such a 
fine young man, nineteen years of age. His brother 
has been here for a week. Several in neighboring tents 
are seriously ill. Priends are here with them. Oh, 
it is sad to see them die. 

You can be sure that the women are appreciated. I 
am told it was dreadful here before they came; that 
the death rate was about ten a day, and surroundings 
most unsanitary. 

The women are treated most courteously by the sol- 
diers. We have comfortable quarters, mostly in tents. 
A few have rooms in a colored Baptist academy build- 
ing. We take our meals during the day in that build- 
ing. Every morning an ambulance goes out with any 
women who care to take a drive. 

I have told you all I think of about camp hospital 
life. I know my letter is not very connected, as I went 
into my tent many times to see that the boys’ wants 
were supplied. The delirious are talking of army life. 
Again I was called to get something to cover one who 
is cold. It is about cold enough for frost and blankets 
are not sufficiently plenty to keep the boys warm. I 


96 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


have in use sheets doubled, hot water bags and bottles 
to-night. I think they have blankets to issue. 

It is 3 a. m. 

ADA HAVEKFIELD, M. D. 


Second Division Hospital, 
Jacksonville, Ela., Nov. 3, 1898. 

We arrived in Jacksonville at 1 p. m. Friday and 
were assigned to the Second Division. We of the Sec- 
ond Division are at Camp Cuba Libra, just on the out- 
skirts of the city, about a quarter of a mile from the 
terminus of the car line. This is truly a city of tents, 
in the midst of which are five pavilions, each one con- 
taining forty patients. There are ten cots in each tent 
and four tents in each section, making forty patients 
in a section. Each nurse has an orderly to assist her. 
I am on day duty and Miss Kephart on nights. 

On our arrival at camp we were requested to re- 
move our armlets. The superintendent explained that 
the people of Jacksonville and surrounding country 
v\^ere prejudiced against Ked Cross people and trained 
nurses, because the ^Svomen of the town’^ were they 
who came here as Red Cross nurses the time of the 
yellow fever epidemic in ’86. Only the orderlies and 
the ambulance drivers use the emblem. Scarcely any- 
thing has been sent here by Red Cross societies, • and 
I have been told that the officers will not accept any- 
thing that comes in the name of the Red Cross. We 
were sorry to learn this, but the people talk of little 
else unless it is the war. Having been bitten once they 
are loth to put their confidence in strange nurses. 

As it is almost time for me to depart for duty I will 
only add for Miss Kephart and myself that we hope 


OF MINNESOTA. 


97 


to do good work here. There is abundant oppor- 
tunity you know. Please remind our friends that we 
look in vain for letters and any home news will be ap- 
preciated by us. 

We expect to leave for Savannah any day The hos- 
j)ital trains take away some of the patients daily. 

ADA COLCLEUGH. 


Camp Poland, Knoxville, Tenn., Kov. 9, 1898. 

I wish I could give you an idea of the home feeling 
your letter brought to me with its Ked Cross banner. 
It took me back to the little gathering in the basement 
on the Sunday afternoon when the baby society was or- 
ganized in the Church of the Kedeemer, and the glori- 
ous gathering in Plymouth church when Dr. Macdonald 
gave us the watchword, ^Tlemember the Men.’^ It 
seems wonderful how much the ^Svee baby’^ has accom- 
plished since that Sunday afternoon, when even some 
of the speakers failed to appear. I wish I could tell 
you more of our future line of work. We shall prob- 
ably stay here until the hospital closes, which may be 
in two months. 

We find many discomforts. One of the girls spent 
$30 and sent home for more money. Dear Uncle Sam 
has not been a might fore-handed. The weather is a 
little warmer than it was and we have stoves in the 
tents and wards, so do not quite perish as we did. 

I have been taking care of seventeen patients for the 
last few days. Their temperature was anywhere from 
105.4 to 102.8. I gave three baths to one, the day 
before yesterday, one an hour long and all inside of 
three hours. Started with 104.4 and ended there. 
Wasn’t I discouraged — hot baths, cold packs and alco- 


98 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


hol bath^and then I left him to the tender mercies of ice 
bags and went to tend some other poor fellow. His 
abdomen is badly distended and hot turpentine stupes 
for twenty-four hours seem to have no impression. He 
is delirious and sometimes objects to everything but his 
clothes and go home. I wonder how it will end. It 
is so hard to tend such cases in a camp ward full of 
men. I think the strong pure womanhood of the sis- 
ters and nurses is a God-sent link that keeps in the mem- 
ory of our soldier boys right, home and mother. 


Camp Poland, Knoxville, Tenn., Kov. 19, 1898. 

I am rejoiced to know that the Red Cross is still 
waving in Minnesota and as busy and useful as ever. 
After the war is over and every one is resting from 
the strain, is when its blessed work will be felt in thesQ 
sick outposts. I worked nineteen hours out of twenty- 
four the day before yesterday. I lost one dear seven- 
teen-year-old boy. His mother came the night before, 
but he died at 4 a. m. and she came at 8 a. m. How 
my heart ached, and I was so unprofessional as to cry 
on duty. I tried to keep him alive till she could see 
him. She was nearly insane when she came and found 
him dead. These are the heart-rending things that re- 
peat themselves in army life. The boys die like sol- 
diers, but the broken-hearted mothers make the wail. 
I think they could have them fall on the battlefield 
easier than die of fever in camp. The soldiers give 
their lives to Uncle Sam, but I do not think the moth- 
ers do. Some come that are quiet and helpful and some 
that are anything but that. One mother actually talked 
her son to death, waking him up from opiate sleep to 


OF MINNESOTA. 


99 


ask him if he was dying. Then they wonder why the 
doctors keep them away as long as possible. 

A. G. YOUJSTG. 


Second Division Hospital, Camp Wetherill, 

Greenville, S. C., Jan. 18, 1899. 

The box arrived to-day, and this evening, before I 
came on duty, I went through it and noted the con- 
tents. We will make good use of everything. One 
cotton jacket is already on a patient. They are great- 
ly in demand, for we have more pneumonia cases than 
any other just now. The wash cloths and old cotton are 
just what we need, and the outing flannel night shirts 
are something we have never had, and for some of our 
patients we can make good use of them. The other 
nurses are just as much interested in the contents of the 
box as myself. The little bags — ^which I suppose are 
laundry bags — -were appropriated by some of us and we 
can make good use of them. Accept my thanks for 
vour efforts in the direction of Greenville, and also ex- 
tend my thanks to the Minnesota Red Cross Society. 

We are having very disagreeable weather. Do not 
imagine for a moment that it is warm and sunny. It 
is the opposite. I am on night duty, and when I have 
nothing to do, which sometimes happens, I wrap myself 
up in a blanket, and sit with my feet on the stove and 
meditate on the ^^Simny (?) South.^^ It rains flve 
days out of every week and occasionally we have sleet 
and an ice storm by way of variety. However, it must 
be healthy weather, for there are very few new cases 
coming in at present. 


L. of C, 


MART TORRES. 


100 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


Camp Columbia, Havana, Cuba, Jan. 20, 1899. 

There are over one hundred cases of measles and a 
few cases of mumps and scarlet fever in the contagious 
wards. Down in the ravine on one side yellow fever 
holds sway, while on the other side smallpox reigns 
supreme. A young Englishman I knew in Jackson- 
ville died yesterday of smallpox. He was one of the 
finest young men I have met in the army. His friend 
contracted the disease while caring for him and he is 
now in a serious condition. I think meningitis has car- 
ried off more of our dear boys since we came to Cuba 
than other diseases. The major says the whole Sev- 
enth Army Corps will be disbanded before the middle 
of February. The boys all have a genuine fit of the 
blues because the nurses are leaving. It is really 
laughable to watch them. Their faces are as long as 
the moral law. If no one else appreciates us, they do. 

Our camp site is beautiful. The hospital proper is 
on the side of a hill overlooking the ocean. On the 
north is the village of Quemadoes, Mariano is on the 
south, the mountains on the west and on the east the 
regiments are camped. It is between ten and twelve 
miles from Havana. 

There are a number of yellow fever and smallpox 
cases in the immediate vicinity, as well as those within 
our very gates. The major does not like to have us 
buy even necessary articles from the native venders, 
they are so unclean. The Cuban children roam as 
naked as the day they were born. Could you but see 
their dwellings, the interior of which is most disgust- 
ing, your only wonder would be that they live at all. 
The camp cleaners gladly gather up all the scraps that 
have been deposited in the slop buckets and regularly 
devour them. 

I must say, I am sure, it would have done your heart 


OF MINNESOTA. 


101 


good to have heard the greetings we received from onr 
boys who had preceded ns. As we ronnded Morro Cas- 
tle the air was rent with ^^Three cheers for the nnrses ! 
God bless the American girls ! and God save the Ameri- 
can women 

ADA COLCLEUGH. 


Manila^ Dec. 14, 1898. 

The other day I saw in a Minneapolis, no I believe 
it was a St. Paul, paper, a report from nnrses in for- 
eign service, and I thonght I mnst write and let those 
at home know at least where I am. If yon remember, 
I was ordered away from Fort Snelling and to report 
at Presidio, Cal., for dnty, dnring that awfnl snow 
storm we had, when the street cars conld not rnn. (Oh, 
for a handfnl of snow now!) 

I like the work here very mnch, and as for the place, 
I am in love with it. Don’t know what there is abont 
it, bnt there is something so fascinating abont the old 
qnaint place. I love to go down on the Lnneta, a drive- 
way down by the bay, and watch the large waves and 
breakers come in. The natives go down and pick shells 
and pearls on the beach after the tide goes ont. Look- 
ing ont over the bay, the large transports and men of 
war make snch a pretty pictnre, with the beantifnl trop- 
ical sky for a backgronnd and the monntains at Cor- 
rigedor to finish. Have never seen snch pretty sky, or 
rather clond effects, as we have here; and the snnsets, 
they are gorgeons, grand. I cannot think of a word 
that would fnlly describe them. ; 

The rainy season is abont over now. Of conrse yon 
have heard abont the rain and also seen some rain, bnt 
one has to go to Manila to appreciate rain. One of the 


102 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


young women said the other day when she came in wet 
to her knees, that a cloud had burst. I often think that 
a number of them burst at the same time. When the 
tide is in, the water does not drain off, as Manila is 
only about one foot above the sea level. The ambu- 
lance usually calls for us at the house, but it cannot 
drive up in the entrance, so we have to put chairs to 
walk on. 

One day when we had more water than usual, I went 
out to see ^^Manila on a rainy day.^’ Wish I could de- 
scribe it to you, to give you an idea of what it was like, 
I know it seems impossible to believe, that the water 
was up level with the seat in our carriage and those who 
walked were in water almost to their waists, not in 
places only but all along, but such was the fact. The 
people here do not mind water, they take to it like 
fishes, or like the caribou (sort of water buffalo used 
for heavy hauling). 

The women walk through the streets, letting their 
dresses drag, balancing their market baskets on their 
heads, with their only comfort, the cigarette, puffing and 
smoking just as contented as can be. They always carry 
their burdens on their heads in large flat baskets. How 
they do it, is a mystery. They walk along as comfort- 
ably as can be, while perhaps they have about flfty 
pounds or more on their heads and a ^^pickaninny’’ on 
their hip. They always carry their children astride on 
one hip. Sometimes the children wear a sort of a skirt, 
but just as often they wear only their complexion and 
a smile. 

Was over at Cavite the other day. You remember, 
it was there Dewey destroyed the Spanish fleet. The 
boats, or what is left of them, are still lying there, of 
course, mostly under water, but still so one can see 
them. It is with a very odd sensation one looks upon 
those things, and thinks how much trouble they caused. 






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MISS ANNA SEAGRAN IN PHILLIPINE COSTUME 



OF MINNESOTA. 


103 


Had it not been for the running down of that fleet, I 
wonder if we would ever have seen Manila. 

Yesterday when I was up to San Fernando, witnessing 
many j)oints of interest along the road, many a scene 
passed through my mind. The country that way is 
beautiful, but flat until one gets beyond San Fernando, 
and there the mountains begin. One can see them 
and they look very near, but I know they are further 
away than they look. 

It is very seldom American women venture up there, 
and a great many, yes, the majority of the natives, 
never saw one before and at the stops they stood like 

living ? with their mouths and eyes all open; it 

was very amusing. Some of them, more bold than 
others, came up to see if it was really a living being 
and pulled at my clothes and hands. Going back we 
had the peace committee on board, eight generals and 
several other insurgent officers. Also, not to be for- 
gotten, fourteen American prisoners were let free at 
Angeles and came down to Manila on our train. The 
boys all along the line cheered them, and it was good 
to see how they welcomed their comrades. They told 
of their imprisonment and said the insurgents had been 
very good to them. 

I send you a picture, a la Filipino. I have a most 
gorgeous dress, and this will give you an idea of tho 
native costume. AHHA M. SEAGEAIST. 


Dagupan, P. L, Jan. 21, 1900. 

I am not in Manila any more, but in a place named 
Dagupan. Aguinaldo used to have his headquarters 
in the very building we now use for a hospital. It is 
a quaint, large, old building. Originally it was a cot- 
tage, but for the last few years has been occupied by 


104 


THE EED CROSS SOCIETY 


troops. My ward is on the corner and the walls are 
unmercifully riddled with bullet holes. Of course, the 
whole building shows what lead can do, but I think this 
corner got the worst of it. The climate up here is very 
different from what it is in Manlia. It is much cooler. 

Dagupan is near the Lingayan bay, and the hospital 
is right on the banks of the Dagupan river. The scen- 
ery is grand. A short distance away are the mountains 
in which the insurgents have gone to hide, but even 
there they are not safe, for our gallant troops can pene- 
trate any bush the insurgents can, and can climb any 
mountain. 

The train runs between Manila and Dagupan daily, 
that is if the insurrectors see fit to permit. The time 
table always says: ^^The Lord and insurgents willing, 

the train will leave at such an hour.’’ However, every 
little while there is a wreck on the road and the train is 
delayed. The natives, no I do not mean the natives, 
as all natives are not insurrectors, all look alike to us, 
we cannot tell one from the other when we see them. 
To be sure, the ^ ^Amigos” (friends) try to dress in 
white, thus signifying what they are, but one can never 
depend on that. 

Many of our boys have been murdered by these 
^‘‘Amigos.” They pass the sentry on outpost duty, look- 
ing very innocent in their white clothes, and suddenly 
turn upon the non-suspecting sentry and cold-bloodedly 
murder him with weapons concealed in their clothes. 
Only last night a man was brought in the hospital, 
found a short distance from here. iSTew Year’s day, a 
sentry went out with a prisoner to cut ^Tamboo.” When 
thej^ did not return in the evening a scouting party was 
sent to look for him, and they found him not a hundred 
yards from the headquarters, slashed beyond recogni- 
tion. Oh, these ^^gagus” are so treacherous ! We have 


OF MINNESOTA. 


105 


a large ward full of them. To be sure, they are ^^mucho 
Amigo’^ while they are here, for they are getting care, 
a bed to sleep in and plenty to eat. That is more than 
they would have outside. They will assure you that 
the Americans are ^‘many bueno’^ good), but I 

have not the slightest doubt but that if they had a chance 
they would turn around and kill any of us. 

We are not allowed to go very far from the house 
without ^^arms’^ or a sentry, as it is not safe. I expect 
to be a ^^sharpshooter’’ when I get back to Minnesota. 

I wish you could see the way the natives here look 
and wonder at the ice. One of the nurses and I went 
up town the other day. To be sure the natives have 
seen our men, white men, but women, that was differ- 
ent. They followed us up where we went, and looking 
back we saw the street was crowded with men, women 
and children gazing in wonder at the ^^Americano Seno- 
ritas.” They looked at our watches, never saw one be- 
fore, and eveiwthing else about us was strange to them. 

Down in Manila, the natives get used to all these 
things, but this is far up in the country, and the ma- 
jority can neither read nor write, and consequently 
their ideas of the outside world are very odd. One of 
my teeth has a rather conspicuous patch of gold filling, 
and some of them came up and asked about a hundred 
and one questions as to how it got there, and so forth. 
To be an American, is to them the same as to have 
plenty of money, but that they are born with gold teeth 
they could not quite understand, and I could not get 
them to believe it could possibly get there otherwise. 

There are a number more nurses on the way I hear, 
and after a while there will be enough so all the field 
hospitals will have nurses. 

Hoping to hear from you soon, I remain, with much 
love, AHNA M. SEAGEAH. 


CONTRACT NURSES. 


The Minnesota Red Cross Society recommended to 
the war department, to serve as contract army nurses, 
the following names, which were accepted: 

Mrs. Mary H. Penall, Mrs. Louise Diltz, Miss Flor- 
ence Hines, Miss Gertrude Spence, Miss Greenleaf, de- 
ceased, Miss Johnston, Miss Mary Forbes, Miss Jose- 
phine Kephart, Miss Ada Colcleugh, Mrs. A. G. Young, 
Miss McCool, Miss Alice Welch, Miss Dena Jacobson, 
Miss Lamont, Dr. Ada Haverfield, Miss Erickson, Miss 
Ruble, Mrs. Mary House, Mrs. Mary Buxton, Mr. 
Fred Johnson, Mr. C. A. Carlson, Miss Anna Seagran, 
Miss Corcoran, Mrs. Boehm, Miss Erickson, St. Cloud. 

FIRST CONTRACT HURSE. 

Mrs. Mary Penall, the first Red Cross nurse to sign 
a government contract from Minnesota, has remained 
in service up to the present time. She went to Ft. Mc- 
Pherson ; from there to Columbus Barracks, Ohio, 
where she remained until the first of the year 1900. 
She was transferred to Ft. Bayard, Hew Mexico, where 
a large military hospital had been built for the tuber- 
cular cases of the army. 

She considers this hospital one of the grandest 
schemes of the age. The improvement in a large ma- 
jority of the cases soon after reaching there is noted as 
marvelous. The post is located on a plateau in the 
mountains, at an altitude of about 6,722 feet. 


OF MINNESOTA. 


107 


In a recent letter Mrs. Penall says: ^^There is just 
as mucli need of the Red Cross Society and nurses now 
as during the war. I have had only one furlough of 
two weeks in my two years’ service, and I have not 
been obliged to lose one hour off duty. My health is 
excellent and my heart is thoroughly enlisted in the 
work. I have signed a contract for another year.” 

Miss Kephart, Miss Colcleugh, Miss Russell, Miss 
Spence, Miss Ruble and Dr. Haverfield were trans- 
ferred early in the winter from the different Southern 
camps to Cuba. Early in the spring of 1900 the Misses 
Russell, Kephart and Colcleugh were transferred from 
Cuba to Manila, where they now are ; also Misses Hines, 
Seagran, Corcoran and Erickson were ordered to Ma- 
nila immediately after the Third Regiment sailed for 
that port. 

The nurses who served only in the Southern camps 
and hospitals rendered valuable services as long as 
needed and received honorable discharges. Miss Green- 
lief, of Duluth, was taken sick at one of the Southern 
hospitals with typhoid fever; as soon as she was con- 
sidered able to travel she was sent home in charge of 
Miss Lamont, but she only lived a short time after 
reaching home. 


DONATIONS TO THE RED CROSS. 


Mrs. A. S. Marshall^ Crow River, Minn. — Four 
nightshirts. 

W. T. Sherman Guild, Ladies of the G. A. R., do- 
nated to the Minneapolis Society a box containing — 
Sixteen pillow cases, twelve sheets, two cans blackber- 
ries, paper and envelopes. 

MRS. ANNA B. ANDERSON. 

The Red Cross Auxiliary, All Souls’ Universalist 
Church, Minneapolis — 106 towels for Camp Ramsey. 

Rushmore, Minn. — $12 membership, one box pa- 
jamas, nightshirts, towels. 

Soldiers’ Aid Society of Owatonna sent to^Chicka- 
mauga for Twelfth and Fourteenth Regiments — One 
large box, $200 in money. To the State Society — One 
box. 

Young People’s Christian Association of the Swedish 
Mission Covenant Churches in St. Paul and Minne- 
apolis collected at a meeting in Merriam Park, July 
25, 1898— $34.75. J. A. SUTHERLAND. 

The Open Window Society, Jackson, Minn., Aug. 
13_$4. 10. LITTLE CHILDREN. 

Proceeds of an entertainment given by Agate Brown, 
Victor Westherby and Jacob Brown at Kenwood for 
the benefit of the Red Cross Society — $2.05. 

C. W. BROWN, Minneapolis. 


OF MINNESOTA. 


109 


Donation received from the Ladies’ Hebrew Benevo- 
lent Society of Minneapolis — $25. 

MRS. J. HARPMAH, Sec. 

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, May 8, 1899. 

To the ^Hed Cross Society of Minnesota,” Masonic 
Temple, Minneapolis Minn. : 

Enclosed find my Chicago exchange for five dollars, 
the proceeds of a collection very recently taken in my 
church in behalf of the Red Cross work. 

Very truly yours, 

J. H. PALMER, 

Minister Universalist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 


MIHHEAPOLIS DOHATIOHS. 

i 

V 

The following articles were contributed and sent to 
the workroom, Plymouth church chapel. May 16, 1898 : 

Mr. William Donaldson — 120 yards flannel for 
nightshirts, one nightshirt, pins and stationery. Mr, 
Donaldson had already sent a large donation to Camp 
Ramsey. 

Minneapolis Dry Goods Company — One large case 
cotton batting, two bolts hospital gauze, one dozen night- 
shirts. 

John W. Thomas & Co. — Ten yards white flannel- 
ette, twenty 3 ^ards sheeting, packing cases. 

R. S. Goodfellow & Co. — Three pieces outing flannel. 

The Economy — Forty yards cheesecloth, two night- 
shirts, four dozen rolls of tape. 

Heffelfinger & Co. — Two pairs night slippers. 

Knaublaugh & Co. — One pair night slippers. 

Wjunan & Partridge — Flannel and unbleached mus- 
lin, value $10. 


110 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


Mrs. Fred Pillsbury — One dozen flannel night- 
shirts. 

Mr. C. F. Buss — Material for three flannel night- 
shirts, buttons, thread and tape, use of sewing machine. 

Browning, King & Co. — One woolen nightrobe. 

Mrs. E. W. Warren — Two flannel nightrobes. 

Mrs. Gould — Boll of old linen. 

Miss Anna Faries — Three linen sheets, five flannel 
sheets, six bottles grape juice. 

Mrs. John Crosby — Twenty-four abdominal bands. 

Winston, Farrington & Co. — One dozen Leibig’s 
Extract of Beef. 

Kew England Furniture Co. — One dozen spoons, 
one dozen tumblers, two granite iron dishes, thirty-six 
towels. 

Mrs. Thomas Lowry — 175 flannel abdominal bands, 
four large rolls old linen, five pairs of pillows. 

E. S. Goodfellow — Three pieces of outing flannel. 

Mrs. Crolius — Five pounds of malted milk, fever 
jackets. 

First Presbyterian Church — Abundance of old linen, 
towels and bandages, five pounds of tea. 

Pillsbury, Washburn & Co. — Ten boxes of Vitos. 

Colonial Chapter, Daughters of the American Kevo- 
lution — Twelve nightshirts, twelve hemstitched hand- 
kerchiefs, four suits of pajamas. 

St. Louis Park Congregational Church — Seven hand- 
kerchiefs, six nightcaps, three towels, four pillow cases. 

Mrs. M. B. Koon — Four pairs pillows. 


OF MINNESOTA. 


Ill 


THE CLAKA HILL CIKCLE. 

The Clara Hill Circle of the Ked Cross was organized 
June 13, 1898, at the home of 'Mrs. Frank Hill, 2737 
Portland avenue, Minneapolis. 

Miss Clara Hill was elected vice president; Amanda 
Evaard Titterud, secretary; Jennie Vernon 'Marsh, 
Treasurer. Plans were made at once to raise money to 
defray the expenses of a trained nurse to Chickamauga. 
July 12th, we gave a unique lawn fete. Rev. G. D. Black 
and Mrs. F. Hill offered the use of their lawn, and 
when all expenses were paid we were delighted to know 
that we had $25 to pay the railroad fare of Miss E. 
Chant, the first nurse to be sent by the Red Cross So- 
ciety of Minnesota to Chickamauga. IsTor was this all, 
friends and strangers all wanted to donate, and in a few 
weeks we had received 607 towels, 9 sheets, 65 pillow 
cases, 18 complete housewives, 12 haverlocks, 17 rolls 
of old linen, 2 dozen hose, soap, old and new magazines. 

When the holidays were drawing near we were very 
anxious to fill several boxes to send to the soldiers of 
the Fifteenth Regiment. We were making all kinds 
of plans to raise the funds needed, when Miss Ethel 
Simons came to our rescue. 

Miss Myra Cook, attending Vassar, had sent Miss 
Simons $5 to be sent to the Red Cross Society. Never 
was $5 more acceptable to any society. 

Seven tin Christmas boxes were filled. Each one 
contained four towels, one whiskbroom, bar of ivory 
soap, shaving soap, tooth powder, courtplaster, comb, 
shaving brush, toothache gum, chewing gum, foot ease, 
tooth brush, mirror, housewife, darning cotton, pair 
hose, linen thread, writing tablet, pencil, pillow slip. 


112 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


pair white cotton gloves, wash cloth, magazine, book 
Christmas card, box candy, and last, the latest edition. 
Evening Journal. 

When we came to solder the lids we found we had 
packed them so full that we had to have a tinsmith come 
to our aid; he was a genius, services gratis, and the 
boxes reached their destination safe and sound. 

I wish I had space to dwell more minutely on our 
work and incidents, trips to Camp Ramsey with sup- 
plies, visits to the hospitals, the concert given at the 
Soldiers’ Home for the old soldiers, the friends who 
stood so loyally by the circle. I wish I could give the 
name of every kind and thoughtful friend who aided 
the circle in its work. 

To Mrs. Frank Hill the circle owes a debt of grati- 
tude, always ready to advise and aid in every plan. 
Her home was always open to the circle at all times, 
to her the Clara Hill Circle owes its origin. 

Respectfully submitted, 

AMAHDA EVAARD TITTERED, Secretary. 

RED CROSS JUNIORS. 

The Minneapolis Red Cross Juniors No. 1 was or- 
ganized at the home of Mrs. Robert Stratton May 28, 
1898, by the following girls: 

Carolyn Gold, Ethel Palmer, Annie Eisher, Naomi 
Morse, Alice Stratton, Helen Chaffee, Jessie Hill, Lura 
Marchant, Ethel Stratton, Mary Geesman, Alice 
Palmer. Edith Williams afterward became a member. 

The purpose of the society was to work for the Min- 
nesota soldiers engaged in the Spanish- American war, 
and to aid the Senior Red Cross Society in whatever way 
possible. 


OF MINNESOTA. 


113 


They met twice every week during the entire sum- 
mer and made two hundred housewives filled with neces- 
sary articles, for keeping clothing in order, which were 
either handed in person or sent to the soldiers. In 
every housewife was a little letter, giving some word 
of cheer and encouragement, and the girls received many 
a courteous note in reply showing that both were greatly 
appreciated. The society also was instrumental in se- 
curing transportation for the soldiers to distant homes, 
and at Christmas time sent four boxes, well filled, to 
the boys at Manila. 

On June 6th, the Juniors received a call from Mrs. 
J ulia D. Cowles, who was connected with the McClure 
Syndicate, and she was so pleased with the appearance 
and work of the girls that she wrote a very pretty story 
about them, which was printed in the 'New York Ob- 
server of September 29th. 

June 24th, the society gave an entertainment in the 
parlors of the Church of the Redeemer for the benefit 
of the soldiers from which they took in $46.50. Twen- 
ty-five dollars of this amount was sent to the Thirteenth 
Regiment stationed at Manila. Mr. J. Franklin Cal- 
hoim superintended the entertainment for the girls, 
which consisted of living pictures of a patriotic nature 
and songs. The following musicians gave their serv- 
ices: Mr. John Harris Chick, Miss Mynn Stoddard, 

Mr. C. Ellis Fisher, Mrs. W. S. Potter, Miss Flora 
Brewer, Miss Maud Stillwell, Miss Olivia Kruse, and 
Mr. Arthur Hale. Messrs. George Marchant, I. E. 
Burt, H. H. Stone, John Calhoun and Frank Lind also 
rendered assistance. 

Mr. William D. Washburn, as president of the board 
of trustees of the church, gave the society the use of the 
vestry. 


114 


THE RED CROSS SOCIETY 


Mr. II. J. Menclenliall contributed quantities of flow- 
ers. Mr. A. M. Geesman printed and contributed 
beautiful programs. 

About thirty-two meetings were held during the sum- 
mer. They were a busy lot of willing workers, and 
were happy in the thought that they were not only glad- 
dening the hearts of our soldiers boys, but were work- 
ing for their country. That they considered it a Chris- 
tian and humane work was shown by their motto, ^Tor 
Christ and Humanity.’’ 

MES. EOBEET STEATTOH, 
Director Red Cross Juniors No. 1, 

Minneapolis, Minn. 


115 


OF MINNESOTA. 


RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS 

Red Crosss Society of Minnesota from May 16, 1898 to 

May 31, 1899. 

The receipts have come from the following’ named sources : 

From churches, societies and entertainments, $1,699.04 

From individual contributions 331.76 

From memberships 1,162.00 

From 12 collection boxes 99.03 

Total $3,292.43 

The*disbursements may be classified as follows : 

For hospital supplies $711.54 

Cash sent to hospitals 449.00 

Nurses and nursing 1,035.80 

Transportation of nurses 175.75 

Hospital service* 293.51 

Expense account 407.95 

$3,073.55 
$116.85 


Total 

Balance on hand 


James O. Pierce, Treasurer. 


SEP 26 1901 


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